The Redwood Prophecy
by Miss Auburn
Summary: A prophecy is found that will change two people's lives forever. But will they accept all the prophecy says? Sometimes life has more in store for you than it seems.
1. Redwood Prophecy meets the Birthday List

Ahh, the disclaimer! Not my characters, I'm just borrowing them to satisfy my imagination, so have fun!

Also, this is just the prologue, and, while it provides critical information, it isn't as eventful as I'd like, so bear with me for a bit. After all, it will get better!

The Redwood Prophecy 

Prologue: The Redwood Prophecy Meets the Birthday List

Ginny sat in her chair, poring over documents, trying to find something that would be of use to the Order. However, she wasn't having much luck. The room was silent, except for the occasional rustle of paper. Ginny had to admit, this was not how she wanted to spend her summer, looking through millennia-old papers found in Sirius's house. She had planned to spend her last summer as a student doing something productive, and while helping the Order was certainly productive, it was also incredible boring. She wasn't allowed to actually go out and do something because she wasn't an official member, despite the fact that her entire family, save Percy, was involved, and she was good friends with the three people who were most likely to end this conflict. Yet she was still underage, and she was not Harry Potter, so they were not likely to bend the rules for her they way they did for him. Also, even if she was a member of the Order, she would still probably be sitting here, looking over these papers about the history of the Black family. Even people who were part of the Order were here with Ginny, in this room, looking for a tidbit of information that might tip the scales in their favor.

Ginny sighed. This was all about how Orlando Black had once proposed to Marianne Jones, how she had rejected him, and how Orlando Black had married Katrina Lillianhall instead. Totally useless information. Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw Hermione, the only other person banished to this room, get up and walk over to the case of bookshelves, get a book and return to her notes. Actually, Hermione hadn't been banished here, she had actually chosen to work here, pouring over documents that no one even knew still existed. But than Hermione was also good at studying, analyzing and dissecting information. Ginny wasn't. Sure, she got good grades, but that wasn't because she was brilliant or anything. Unlike her three next-oldest brothers, she actually put lots of effort into her work. But that didn't make her like Hermione, ambitious and constantly craving knowledge. As if she knew what Ginny was thinking, Hermione looked up and over at Ginny, before calling out, "Harry, Ron, Professor Lupin, I think you should come here!" 

When they didn't answer, Hermione got up and, clutching the document in her hand, walked out if the room in search of them. Ginny stood up and followed her out of the room, not wanting to be left out of  any excitement.  Hermione walked quickly, obviously disturbed. Ginny ran to catch up with her and asked, "Hermione, what's the matter? What did you find?" However, Hermione just shook her head and continued walking resolutely through the Black ancestral house. She walked in on Harry and Lupin sitting in the Dining Hall, having an animated discussion and forgetting their afternoon meals, which were sitting in front of them, now cold.

"Good, I'm glad you're both here." said Hermione. "I've found something that you might think is interesting." 

"What?" asked Harry frowning.

"It's another prophecy." Harry blanched. Ginny imagined that it was because the last time he learned about a prophecy, his godfather had just died, and his life had just changed forever. The prophecy had told him "Kill or be killed" and even now, just over two years later, Harry was still getting accustomed to that idea. 

"What is it?" Lupin asked quietly. 

"I don't know yet, I just had a chance to translate the title of the paper. Once I realized what it said, I thought you should know as soon as possible."

"It's unlikely that this prophecy has anything to do with you, Harry." Professor Lupin told Harry in a reassuring voice. "It's probably about some long-dead Black." But Ginny had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that this prophecy did not bode well. 

Hermione spent the next week translating the prophecy. It was hard, and she was using up to three different dictionaries, trying to find the meaning of every word, and checking all the dictionaries to make sure they all had the same translation. It was Ginny's job to help Hermione, looking up words in the dictionary and dictating them to Hermione. People were always stopping in, seeing how it was going. Harry was the most frequent visitors, checking up on their progress every couple of hours. Ginny wasn't sure if his numerous visitations were due to his growing uneasiness about the prophecy or a desire to see Hermione. They were so cute together, Ginny thought, even if they didn't know it.

Parts of the prophecy were illegible, and patches weren't there at all. Then, after they had translated all that they were able to, Ginny and Hermione went in a frantic search through the rest of the papers recovered from Sirius's house for a more readable copy. They couldn't find one anywhere. Harry had stopped in when they finished looking through the last of the papers found in the house.

"What is it?" Harry asked, seeing Hermione's crestfallen look. 

"There are big chunks of the prophecy that I can't read, and I can't find a copy." 

"Well," Harry said, looking over her shoulder. "Let's see what we have."

_"'In times yet unknown, the greatest evil shall come to pass_

_Stricken once, yet reared again shall fight its brother to the death_

_They cannot live in the same world_

_One shall be extinguished, ere these conditions are..._

_Together in holy matrimony for all eternity_

_In the eyes of those destined to contest,_

_One embodies compassion, the other seems cold_

_Innocence mixes with corruption...evermore_

_...complementing each other in ways rarely seen_

_One as fair of face as fair of mind_

_The binds are strong, too strong for the four to escape_

_Destiny links them, and whatever the outcome, those ties cannot be broken_

_Corruption, hate, lies, death, pain, bewilderment, angst, violence and hurt_

_Trials and tests which all have passed_

_...four shall be reduced to three..._

_...love, hate, relief, terror, pleasure or pain_

_Take your pick'"_

"Wow." said Harry quietly. "That's disturbing."

"Harry," Hermione was talking just as quietly as Harry. "I think that Professor Lupin was wrong. I do think that this has to do with you and V-Voldemort." Ginny cringed at the casual use of his name. "I mean, 'the greatest evil shall come to pass...' that's sure happened. 'Stricken once, yet reared again' that's Voldemort. He died, or went away once, but he came back. 'Shall fight its brother to the death' and Harry, you know that your wands have two phoenix feathers, the only that that particular phoenix produced. You could say that your wands are brothers, and you know that you'll have to fight him to the death. How is this not about you?"

"Then what's all this talk about holy matrimony? Because, I can tell you, I am not marrying Voldemort." A grin broke onto Harry's face despite his grave demeanor, though it did not reach his eyes. Ginny actually laughed, and even Hermione smiled.

"No Harry." Hermione said. "It talks about the 'four' several different times. I think it's two other people who have to be married."

"Well, I should hope so." Harry paused. "So how are you going to get the rest of the prophecy?"

Hermione sighed, a bone deep sigh. "I have no idea. It's not anywhere in this house. Maybe there's a copy of it in some of the other prominent, pureblooded households, but we aren't on the best terms with them." Hermione smiled again at her words.

Ginny snorted. "That's an understatement. Can you imagine going up to Malfoy Mansion and asking  someone, 'Hi, can I go through your house to try and find an old, yet-unfulfilled prophecy to help us destroy your Dark Lord?'" Harry and Hermione smiled again.

"No, I have no idea what to do now." Hermione said, futility creeping into her voice. She looked over at Harry, whose brow was furrowed in concentration. She sighed, asking, "Harry, what are you thinking now?"

"Nothing." he muttered.

Hermione looked exasperated. "Harry, I've known you for seven years. I know when you're planning something. Now, tell me what it is."

"Well," mumbled Harry, not meeting anybody's eyes. "There is one place where they'll have the prophecy." When no one said anything, he continued. "The Department of Mysteries."

***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   *** 

Hurried visits were made to various members of the Order who worked at the Ministry in an attempt to see if there were very many unfulfilled prophecies. As it turned out, there were, but it was all but impossible to get a hold of them. Because there were not yet about anybody and had no names on them, the only people who could touch them were the workers in the Department of Mysteries. Luckily, there was one, and only one, witch who worked in the Department of Mysteries in the Order. They contacted her right away, and she promised a full copy of the prophecy next time she stopped by headquarters. 

Less than a week later, they had a full copy of the Prophecy. 

_In times yet unknown, the greatest evil shall come to pass_

_Stricken once, yet reared again shall fight its brother to the death_

_They cannot live in the same world_

_One shall be extinguished, ere these conditions are met;_

_A powerful trio arises, death is in the air_

_A war, a phoenix plays a part_

_All key players know the hog, the world chooses sides_

_And most importantly, a disciple of each foe must be joined_

_Together in holy matrimony for all eternity_

_In the eyes of those destined to contest,_

_One embodies compassion, the other seems cold_

_Innocence mixes with corruption, tainted evermore_

_Yet the two together are a better blend_

_Different as a tree and a gem, walking contradictions to each other_

_Yet complementing each other in ways rarely seen_

_One as fair of face as fair of mind_

_The other striking and sharp in wit_

_They shall be close in age, 231 days apart_

_Young in face, heart and mind. Untried and uninitiated_

_Their blood is pure, untainted by the faults of others_

_And, despite prejudice, the lovers could not find a more perfect match_

_Ties link the foes to the disciples_

_The binds are strong, too strong for the four to escape_

_Destiny links them, and whatever the outcome, those ties cannot be broken_

_Corruption, hate, lies, death, pain, bewilderment, angst, violence and hurt_

_Trials and tests which all have passed_

_And what will befall if the lovers are not joined will be worse_

_One way or another, the four shall be reduced to three, at least_

_Then, one emotion will reign, be it love, hate, relief, terror, pleasure or pain_

_Take your pick_

***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***

Ginny sat back, slept, went school shopping on Diagon Alley and packed for Hogwarts while her brother, Harry, Hermione, Professor Lupin and Professor McGonagall tried to decipher the prophecy. "Body heat!" Ginny thought to herself, wishing that she was just a year older so she could cast a cooling spell on herself. She would have asked her Mum, but she was nowhere to be seen. The trio was gone, making last minute preparations for the conference, and none of her other brother were anywhere to be seen. Ginny sighed and sat down. At least they involved her in this meeting; she had been sure when she first asked to go that she would get a reply of "No, this is only for members of the Order". 

Harry walked out into the center of the Living room in Sirius's old house, where a circle of chairs surrounded an opening that served as a dais from which the trio could talk. When he walked out, silence followed, because this was the only one of the Order who could actually do something, because he was the head of the Order, because Harry was the only one who would have to kill Voldemort. He commanded respect. Hermione and Ron followed him, his backup. Hermione stepped up forward and cleared her throat before starting. 

"As you know, we've discovered a prophecy that may have something to do with our current situation. It reads: '_In times yet unknown, the greatest evil shall come to pass. Stricken once, yet reared again shall fight its brother to the death. They cannot live in the same world_.' We believe this is talking about You-Know-Who, _'Stricken once, yet reared again'_. Who else would that be? And, Harry and You-Know-Who's wand both have a phoenix feather, the only two that this phoenix produced. It is saying that He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named will fight Harry with wands and magic. 'They cannot live in the same world'. We already knew this, thanks to the last prophecy. One of them will have to die.

"Next, '_One shall be extinguished, ere these conditions are met; a powerful trio arises, death is in the air. A war, a phoenix plays a part. All key players know the hog, the world chooses sides. And most importantly, a disciple of each foe must be joined together in holy matrimony for all eternity_.' It starts out saying that either Harry or You-Know-Who will die once all this cryptic stuff happens. I believe that the trio refers to Harry, Ron and myself, who will always be there to help Harry. Anyone who knows us knows we do things together. '_Death is in the air_' is pretty straightforward. People are going to die, and we've always known that. '_A war, a phoenix plays a part_.' We are in the middle of a war right now, and we are the phoenix, we are the Order of the Phoenix. We are unquestionably going to play a part in this war. Then, '_All key players know the hog, the world chooses sides_.' I believe," said Hermione, stressing the last word. "That this means that most of the 'key players' as they are called, went to Hogwarts. And this makes sense. Harry, Ron, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, many of the Death Eaters and many of you here, including myself, all went to Hogwarts. Next, we're getting to the gist of this prophecy, because I don't think that this prophecy is about Harry and You-Know-Who, exactly. '_And most importantly, a disciple of each foe must be joined together in holy matrimony for all eternity_.' That means that one of ours, and a Death Eater will be married. It's these two that most of the prophecy is about. 

"'_In the eyes of those destined to contest, one embodies compassion, the other seems cold. Innocence mixes with corruption, tainted evermore, yet the two together are a better blend. Different as a tree and a gem, walking contradictions to each other, yet complementing each other in ways rarely seen. One as fair of face as fair of mind, the other striking and sharp in wit. They shall be close in age, 231 days apart, young in face, heart and mind. Untried and uninitiated, their blood is pure, untainted by the faults of others. And, despite prejudice, the lovers could not find a more perfect match_.' This segment is all about the lovers, as we'll call them. In Harry and You-Know-Who's eyes, one is compassionate, the other cold. And I'm assuming that ours is the compassionate one." This statement prompted a few uneasy laughs. "They're good together. They're very different people, but they complement each other. Both are good-looking, but one is kind while the other is smart. This is the most important part: '_They shall be close in age, 231 days apart_.' This is probably our best way of finding these two, because not much more information is given. Also, they are both young. I believe that they are both pureblooded, and they go very well together. Any questions so far?" When no one commented, Hermione continued. "All right then. Let's go on. 

_"'Ties link the foes to the disciples. The binds are strong, too strong for the four to escape. Destiny links them, and whatever the outcome, those ties cannot be broken_.' This just means that Harry, Vold- uh, I mean, You-Know-Who," Hermione corrected herself and refrained herself from using his name for the benefit of the people here today, most of whom were not comfortable hearing or using his name. "Harry, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and the two lovers are all connected, which makes sense if you consider that, since these people are 'key players', they went to Hogwarts and know each other." Hermione took a deep breath before continuing. 

"'_Corruption, hate, lies, death, pain, bewilderment, angst, violence and hurt, trials and tests which all have passed. And what will befall if the lovers are not joined will be worse_.' It means that we all have been through a lot, but it will be worse if the lovers don't get married. And last, but not least, '_One way or another, the four shall be reduced to three, at least. Then, one emotion will reign, be it love, hate, relief, terror, pleasure or pain. Take your pick._' This is the most disturbing part. It means that one way or another, either Harry or You-Know-Who will die, if not one of the lovers, too. Then, depending on who won, everyone will be feeling one thing. Love, relief or pleasure if Harry wins, hate, terror and pain if he doesn't. The '_Take your pick_' is just saying that we decided the outcome of this war by the decisions that we make. We are the ones who control our destiny. Thank you for your time." And with that, Hermione stepped back, leaving Harry standing in front.

"What we need to do, I think, is find these lovers. That's one of the most important things right now. We can assume that they both went to Hogwarts, are both purebloods, that they're still young and that they're born 231 days apart. That 231 days is the biggest clue that we have."

But by this time, Ginny had such a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach that she had to get up and leave. "Cramps," she thought to herself.

***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***

Three days later, Ginny was the only one in her family who boarded the Hogwarts Express, her assignment fresh and foremost in her mind; she was to make a list of everyone currently at Hogwarts and their birthday. And so she did. 

Hogwarts seemed empty without Headmaster Dumbledore, but he was gone, never to come back. Ginny knew that he could have helped her and the Order with the birthday list. Headmistress McGonagall couldn't, because, as a teacher and headmistress, she could not talk to a student for a non-necessary reason. After Ginny's fourth year with Professor Umbridge, things had only gotten worse. If a Ministry spy was bad, imagine a Death Eater spy, people who did exist at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall had to be careful if she wanted to keep her job, and avoided unnecessary conversation with both students who had Death Eaters as parents, and those who had parents in the Order. So it was up to Ginny.

When she came home at Christmas break, Ginny brought her list with most of the current students at Hogwarts, and even some of those who had graduated. "Thanks so much!" Harry told her.

"Ginny, you forgot yours on here." mentioned Hermione, who was quickly scanning the list. "Any luck?" 

"No." answered Ginny, reaching over for the list and writing her name and birthday on it. "Dean Thomas and a Slytherin in my grade were 235 days, and another couple were 223, but no 231. Here you go." She handed the list back to Hermione, who spent the rest of Ginny's break looking over the list. It was not until after Ginny returned to school that Hermione found something.

"Harry?" she called out. He was just in the other room, so he came quickly. 

"What?"

"Look at this." Harry's face turned white.

"Of course. Why didn't we see this before?"

A/N: Ooh, who could it be? Don't worry, it's at the beginning of next chapter! So, be nice and review. Please?


	2. Happiness is a Great Gift

Disclaimer: I'll put it this way- if I owned these characters, why would I be putting a disclaimer on this story?

The Redwood Prophecy

Chapter One: To Be Happy is a Great Gift

Hermione owled Ginny as soon as they were sure; they had found the "lovers". Hermione had to admit, now knowing who those two were, she didn't think that they would do too well together. I mean…Her trail of thought led off. 

Ginny got the owl the next day at breakfast. It was short and simple:

_Dear Ginny,_

_This coming weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend. Harry and I will meet you at the Three Broomsticks at noon on Saturday. We have something very important to discuss. Don't be late._

_Hermione_

Ginny knew from the lack of a "love" or "sincerely" before Hermione's signature alone that something was amiss. The abruptness of the note was another clue. Ginny felt a knot growing in her stomach. She was anxious; obviously Harry and Hermione had discovered something, probably about the prophecy. Today was Tuesday; Saturday seemed too far away. 

Yet somehow, before Ginny knew it, it was Saturday. She was at the Three Broomsticks fifteen minutes before the scheduled time- she thought that she might have some extra thinking time. But no such luck. Harry and Hermione were there, though they didn't notice Ginny's arrival- they were too caught up in each other. Though they looked anxious, they still managed to flirt admirably. Ginny smiled to herself, thinking that they really did make a cute couple. She walked over to the counter and ordered a butterbeer. She sat there, quietly sipping her drink when Harry met her eyes and gestured for her to come over and join them.

"Ginny!" Hermione said, blushing only slightly. "You're early."

Ginny smiled. "So are you."

Harry frowned slightly. "We decided to discuss how we were going to break this news to you." He paused. "I'm sorry, but there is no nice way to do it." Ginny frowned.

"What _are_ you talking about?" she asked, though she had an inkling. Why else would Harry and Hermione be here, apologizing, unless…she decided not to continue that train of thought. Hermione was watching her intently and seemed to know what she was thinking.

"Ginny, you're one of the lovers." Ginny nodded dumbly. Of course, this was just perfect. Maybe though, it wouldn't be too bad. Maybe her husband would be some nice-

"Gin?" Harry interrupted her reverie, looking concerned. "You look really pale."  

Ginny waved her hand at him to hush him. "I'm thinking!" But Ginny didn't think her husband would be some nice guy, after all, he had to be on Voldemort's side, and Voldemort was not known for picking the sweetest people as followers. "Who is it?" Ginny asked quietly, not being able to stand not knowing.

"Draco Malfoy." Ginny's mind whirled around and round in her head. What the hell was happening? "No." she said calmly. "No."

"Ginny, I'm so sorry, but that's what…you're the only people it could be, and the prophecy fits you so well. It's almost like it was written for you-well, technically, it was, but still-"

"No. I can't marry Draco Malfoy." Ginny interrupted. "I can't."

"I hate to tell you, Ginny-"

"No, you don't get it." Ginny said, interrupting Harry again. "His father would never let me marry him. I won't be able to." Harry and Hermione exchanged looks.

"Well, Gin, we've considered that." started Hermione calmly. "And we think if we explain it-"

"You guys are crazy!" Ginny muttered.

"-we think that Lucius might be accepting."

"Ha!" 

"But we were planning on talking to Draco first. I know that he can be…difficult-"

"That's an understatement."

"-but he's not unreasonable, or at least not nearly as much as his father."

"And you want me to marry into that family. I'd probably go just as crazy as the rest of them." Ginny muttered under her breath.

"First, Gin, we really don't need the running commentary, and second, believe me, we don't _want _you to marry into that family." Hermione sighed. "However, we do need you to."

Ginny took a deep, long sip of her butterbeer and wished it were something stronger. If –if- she were to marry Draco, she would need a massive and constant supply of liquor. If she were to marry Draco, a lot of thing would change. Ginny sighed, and decided not to think about a possible marriage with Draco Malfoy. After all, her name would be Ginny Malfoy! She shook her head in distaste. The name change alone would be reason enough not to marry him (though it was better than Weasley), however, there were hundreds of other, more tangible and creditable reasons not to marry him. She took a deep breath, and told the couple before her, "I'll think about it. I won't promise anything, but I will think about it." And Ginny knew that she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about her decision. Her brow furrowed in concentration. "Her decision." The words echoed in her mind. It was not just her decision, it was Draco's too, and Ginny had a fairly strong feeling that he wanted to marry her even less than she wanted to marry him. Her mood lightened up a little bit, because the more she thought about it, the more certain Ginny was that Draco would not accept her as a wife. So she wouldn't be the one letting Harry down (which made her feel a lot better, she didn't like saying "no" to Harry, especially when it was something so important). "I'll think about it." She repeated.

*~*~*

And Ginny did think about it; in fact, she thought about it so much that she started to fall behind in her classes. How could she not think about it? A few of her friends sat her down and demanded to know what was going on, but Ginny just brushed them off- they wouldn't understand. 

It was not a good time to be distracted; this was her N.E.W.T. year, and could very well determine her future. "Though" Ginny thought critically, "If I were to marry Malfoy, my future would be settled. There would be any need to work and have a job." Then Ginny was angry at herself for even thinking about marrying him. So she tried to push all her thoughts of Malfoy, the prophecy and the Order to the back of her mind and just concentrate on studying. But, in the far reaches of Ginny's mind, a small part of her continued to mull the decision over. Marriage would be such a big step, and, according to the prophecy, they would be '_Together in holy matrimony for all eternity'._ Ginny didn't like that 'all eternity' part- it meant that once Voldemort was defeated (Ginny was positive that Harry would win), Ginny could not just divorce Malfoy. 

Even divorce itself was a disturbing thought for Ginny; her parents had a strong relationship, and Ginny had always imagined that her bond with her husband would be powerful and passionate, too. And somehow, Draco Malfoy did not seem like the kind of person with whom Ginny could share something as extreme as marriage. She didn't know him that well- he had never payed that much attention to her, preferring to taunt Ron- and everything that she heard about him was not pleasant.  Ginny wondered at fate, that it could try to cast her together with someone that was so ill suited for her. And more than ill-suited, Ginny's whole family was likely to disown her if she…No, Ginny thought, her parents would accept it, and as long as her brothers knew the reason why Ginny was marrying Malfoy, they, while not being pleased, would not be angry with her. Briefly, Ginny wondered how Ron was taking the news of her and Malfoy being the two 'lovers'. At the thought of Ron's reaction, Ginny was very glad that she was miles away from him- she did not care to think of how he would respond. 

There was only thing that could calm Ginny down, and that was something she did not want to do; talk to Malfoy. Talking to him could at least let her know where he stood on the whole marriage thing. For all she knew, Malfoy could be totally against it, and Ginny would never have to make the choice. Because, when it came down to this, Ginny wasn't sure that she would have the heart to say no. Other people –Sirius Black, Lily and James Potter, Frank and Alice Longbottom who, according to Neville's grandmother "gave their health and sanity"- had made so many incredible sacrifices; Ginny's would just be one more. She didn't think she could possibly condemn Harry to death, and if Harry died, all would be lost. No, the prophecy said that Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy (not by name, of course) had to be married. 

The other part of Ginny's brain demanded to know why so much attention was being paid to some stupid, half ruined piece of paper Hermione found. It was just a prophecy- a prediction, and Ginny had never put much weight into Divinations or Trelawney. This was just like any other nonsense that came out of the top of North Tower, insignificant and incoherent illusions.

"Ahh!" Ginny cried out, to no one in particular, though several people in the library looked over at her. She was just confusing herself; overanalyzing everything…she really should stop thinking. The library was almost full today, as it was a Saturday, and Ginny didn't want to attract anymore negative attention. Ever since she came back from her meeting with Harry and Hermione, people had thought she was acting very oddly, and they weren't sure they liked the change. And what was worse was that Ginny knew she had been acting oddly, and the people were treating her differently because of her change in temperament. But, first, Ginny didn't care what people thought; she had much more important things to consider. Second, Ginny felt that she had a right to act oddly- some of the most disturbing news of her life had recently been delivered. How else was she supposed to act? "Stop overanalyzing things!" Ginny mentally scolded herself. And so she did; she stood up, walked up to her room, got her broom, and set off for Malfoy Mansion.

*~*~*

The wind whipped through her hair, and her stomach was in knots, but Ginny didn't care. She was numb, both physically (it was late January) and mentally. Every movement was mechanic, automatic, carried out without thought. Because Ginny knew that if she stopped to think about what she was doing, where she was going, she would turn straight around. Ginny had done many courageous things, meeting Tom Riddle in her first year, facing Death Eaters in her fourth, but right now nothing seemed as frightening as the challenge of talking to Draco Malfoy about the possibility of a marriage between them. 

Her broom lurched, making Ginny grip her broom even tighter. She had been flying for a while now- hopefully the house was near. Ginny had to admit, she wasn't quite sure where she was going. She had a rough idea of where the house was, but she was counting on there not being very many mansions in the area. Though she was beginning to worry; she had thought to be there by now. Wait; was that it, there on the edge of the forest? "No," Ginny thought, as she got closer. " That's just a cottage." She was growing impatient, and her earlier numbness was wearing off. If it took much longer, Ginny didn't think she would be able to confront Malfoy.

Luckily for her, or at least for the prophecy, she sighted the sprawling grounds soon afterward, and slowly started to spiral down, the whole while looking for what would be the front. Presuming that the front was the entrance that did not have a quidditch field, rose garden or forest alongside it, she settled down by the east side of the house. The door to the house was enormous, made of solid redwood and set in gold. Ginny's eyebrows rose in appreciation, and she hesitantly knocked on the door. Her knock barely made any sound against the sturdy door, though she began to straighten her clothes just in case someone had heard. She had worn some of her best clothes, not wanting to make a bad impression, though she doubted anything she did would impress Malfoy. "Not that I want to impress him," she amended hastily. Though there _was_ no reason to make a _bad _impression. Ginny sighed, and knocked again at the door, this time a little harder. It opened abruptly, Ginny's hand still at the door, to reveal a stern-looking man dressed in black, obviously a butler. 

"Can I help you miss?" he asked in a controlled voice.

"Um, yes, I need to speak with Draco Malfoy." Ginny said, equally composed, though she was shaking inside. 

"Mister Malfoy is currently unavailable."

"Oh." murmured Ginny, disappointed. She had flown all the way, and for what?

"Is that all, miss?"

"Um, yes. I'll go now."  

"Have a nice day, miss." And with that, the door shut resolutely, leaving Ginny standing on the doorstep.

"There goes another day wasted." muttered Ginny. Another day that she could have used studying for her N.E.W.T.s, or catching up on homework, which she badly needed to do. Why was nothing going right in her life anymore. Ever since Hermione had uncovered that ridiculous prophecy, everything had started going down the drain. She lowered her head into her hands, and began to cry. Why couldn't things go back to the way the used to be, before this wretched prophecy?

"What the hell?" asked a steely voice. Ginny wiped her faced and looked up. A blond head and gray eyes were staring down at her. She sniffed one last time and stood up. 

"Malfoy?"

"What are you doing on my front porch?"

"I came here to talk to you. They told me you weren't here." whispered Ginny.

"Why?"

"I don't know, ask your butler, or whoever you have to answer the door."

"No, I meant why did you come here?" His voice had not softened at all during their conversation. 

Ginny took a step back and asked if he had talked to Harry. When the reply was negative, Ginny almost started crying again. "So you don't know about the prophecy?"

"I know about the prophecy, I got an owl from Potter. I just didn't _talk_ to him." Draco stressed the word 'talk' as if he were talking to a small child, pointing out Ginny idiocy at not perceiving the difference. 

"Oh. What do you think?"

"What do I think?" repeated Draco. "It doesn't matter what I think; there is no way that my father would ever let me marry a Weasel." He spoke as if he were glad that his father would not them be married, which he probably was. "I just ripped up the letter." He paused. "It was probably a scam. One of you Weasels probably decided you didn't like being poor." Ginny was incensed- he had some nerve suggesting that this was a ruse to get his money. She just glared at him.

"It wasn't." she replied coldly, enunciating firmly. He just raised his eyebrows.

"Now if you would just get off my doorstep, I have somewhere to be." And with that Draco Malfoy walked off. Ginny didn't know what to think. She wasn't sure if she was overjoyed or disappointed. She knew that she was glad she didn't have to marry this git, but she was distressed on Harry's behalf, and wasn't sure what he would do now. She stood there for a full minute before she mounted her broom and flew away.  

*~*~*

As soon as Ginny got back to school, she sat down and, instead of studying, wrote to Harry and told him exactly what had happened. Recounting the entire encounter in detail, she was slightly worried at what his reaction would be. She took a deep breath before sending it off, but at least Ginny did send it. She didn't get a reply, but she wasn't really expecting one. 

_Ginny,_

_There might still be a wedding. Lucius found out about the prophecy, and it seems that he is desperate to do anything to help his Dark Lord, including marrying his only son off to what he termed "Muggle-loving filth". Unfortunately, I am also desperate. This conflict needs to end, and now that we have an opportunity to fulfill the prophecy, we have to take it._

_Harry_

A tear dripped from Ginny's eye.

A/N

Hey guys, sorry if this chapter is kind of boring. Don't hate me too much. In fact, do me a favor and review. No one has any idea how much I love reviews. I hug myself every time a see a new one!

Thanks so much guys, you're great. And thank you inu-yasha4ever89, kneh13, Harmonia1, Laura, Kristina, FRENCHiE-EM0RY, LuSa, shock-a-lot, F75 and Cassie for reviewing the prologue. You guys are so sweet!

~Miss Auburn


	3. Say Goodnight

A/N: Well, here it is, the second chapter. I'm so glad everyone has been so nice in reviewing. Sorry it took so long to put up, but first I was in Pittsburgh, then school started. It's awful.   
  
Speaking of school, now that it has started, updates are going to be fewer and farther between. I'm taking all honors classes and I just don't have enough time to dedicate hours a day to writing anything other than stupid reports, algebra, physics, articles and ucky health stuff. Sorry. Also, I tried to update yesterday, but it was really messed up (the DM did it, not me!) and so I couldn't. Forgive me?   
  
Chapter Two: Considerations   
  
Ginny sat cuddled up in her favorite chair in the Gryffindor common room, thinking. It was past midnight, and no one else was awake, or if they were, they weren't bothering Ginny. The last note from Harry was still in her hand, partially crumpled. She could feel it in her grip, could almost feel the weight of the words and what they meant for her. If Lucius approved of their marriage, there wasn't much Ginny could do to stop it. Sure, she could refuse to marry Malfoy, but it was not something she would do. No, she had a duty. Even if she was not an official member of the Order of the Phoenix, she would be in a few months, when she graduated from Hogwarts. She had spent the past few years dreaming of all the great things she would accomplish for the order, how she would become invaluable, one of the most important people in it. And if the Order was asking her to do this, then she supposed she would. After all, Ginny mused, there was no reason for them to talk or even see each other after they were married. Just a few words spoken to each other, then the marriage would be official and they needn't attend each other again. Perhaps she could even get her own little cottage or something -Merlin knew the Malfoys could afford it- to live in. Yes, Ginny thought to herself, that will work out very well.   
  
The fire was dying down, and Ginny didn't feel like putting another log on. Tomorrow, she promised herself, she would write to Harry and tell him she would go through with it. There was nothing else she could do. Right now, things were at a stalemate. According to the stupid prophecy, they would stay at that impasse until Ginny married Draco Malfoy. She just hoped that she was doing the right thing. A fear nagged at her brain that she might be sending Harry to his death, causing her world to crash down around her. If she went though with the marriage, allowing Harry and You-Know-Who to continue on to their final confrontation, and if Harry somehow lost...Ginny shook her head. There was no way that Harry could lose. This was Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived that they were talking about. Every single year at Hogwarts, You-Know-Who tried his very best to kill Harry, and yet he was still alive. Ginny had every confidence that Harry would live. And the only way to give Harry a chance to win was to marry Malfoy. Ginny felt better having made a conclusive decision. She would marry him.   
  
She sighed. At this point there was nothing that Ginny wanted more than someone to comfort her, to tell her that it would all be all right, that she made the right choice. Now she would never have a husband to do that for her. Well, she already knew that it would not be a marriage in the traditional sense- perhaps Draco would not be opposed to each of them having a lover? Ha, Ginny thought to herself a moment later, not bloody likely. Too much senseless Malfoy pride to hold up. This is going to be hell, Ginny muttered to herself. No, she corrected mentally, it will not. I don't know what the future holds, it might not even be that bad. Then she snorted, "Not bloody likely."   
  
***   
  
Draco sat down heavily in his chair. He was pissed. He was only a year out of Hogwarts, and here his father was already planning a wedding. Draco had figured he had at least a few years -perhaps a decade if he was lucky- to kill before he had to get married. But no, today his father had sat him down and told Draco that he would be married by the end of the summer. Bastard, muttered Draco. And the worst part of it was that Lucius wouldn't tell him yet who the lucky lady was- that alone made Draco suspect that it was someone especially awful. Millicent Bullastrode came to mind. No, worse than that he knew. Virginia Weasley. Who else could it be? It would be too much of a coincidence if- only days after Potter told Draco about this pitiful prophecy calling for him to marry Weasley- his father bid him to marry someone else. "Damn it!" he hissed under his breath. How the hell had his father found out about the prophecy? Draco himself had burned the paper Potter had sent, and even if Lucius had seen Weasley at the house, that in itself -though a notable occurrence- would have told him nothing. Draco found himself mentally reviewing the conversation he had with the girl. Very short, mentioned the prophecy, mentioned marriage, but no remark as to how the two were connected.  
  
Well, Draco reasoned, maybe it wasn't my fault. If Potter could discover the prophecy, than it was probable that the Dark Lord could as well. And You-Know-Who could have told Lucius. If it was an order from the Dark Lord, then Draco's father would be keen to marry his son off to the girl the Dark Lord commanded him to. And Draco was willing to bet 100 galleons that the girl was Virginia Weasley. So, finally, here was a chance for the son who had been less than exceptional in his current assistance -or lack of it- to the Dark Lord to finally prove his mettle. Here was his chance to shine, and to make his son shine, to make a contribution to the Dark Lord's troupe, one that would have a lasting value. So, without any consideration of Draco's feelings about the whole mess (it was his life, after all, that was being determined) Lucius had written Potter, and now a wedding might be underway. "Bloody hell," muttered Draco. He had to admit, he was shocked that his father would let him marry a Weasley -Muggle-loving, red-headed, penniless filth that they were- and have future Malfoy generations be tainted by their blood. Apparently, nothing was too much to ask for when it came to You-Know-Who.  
  
Draco found himself considering her. She wasn't bad looking, that was for sure. Her looks were more classic, not flamboyant in the least. When you first looked at her, you didn't notice her face, exactly, (just her hair, Draco thought snidely) but the more you looked at her, the prettier she became. If it weren't for her damned red hair, Draco would have said she was beautiful. But he didn't. At least she wasn't Millicent Bullastrode.  
  
Married. For Merlin's sake he could barely even stand to thing about it. Yet what could Draco do to stop this upcoming terror? Nothing, nothing at all.   
  
***   
  
"Hey Ginny!" Harry called out as she walked into number four, Grimwald place. Ginny smiled back faintly. "Hi Harry."  
  
"How was your match?" he asked, sitting himself down in on of the chairs in the parlor.  
  
"Well, we won." The Gryffindor quidditch team had not been having a very good year. Harry was gone, the best Seeker the team had seen in almost two and a half decades. Ginny was playing Keeper, but with her rather preoccupied mind this year, she wasn't always very good. Still, after her decision made a week ago to go through with the marriage, she had become more focused.  
  
"Well, that's good. What was the score?"  
  
"210 to 230."  
  
"Not bad, not bad."  
  
Ginny smiled. "Though not as good as when you were playing."  
  
"I have to admit, there is just about nothing more that I like more than quidditch...Ah well. What brings you here Ginny?"  
  
"I was just visiting. Cant I stop in to see my family anymore?" she said jokingly.   
  
"Then why did you come here instead of the Burrow?"  
  
"Harry, you know as well as I do that my family probably spends more time here than at the Burrow. After all, they're all in the Order, except Percy and me." She looked at him significantly, as if to say, "but that will be changing as soon as I get out of school, right?" Harry just smiled. "Plus, this way I could see you and Hermione too." Harry just kept looking at her, not saying a word. "Oh, fine! I also wanted to see if you heard any news about you-know-what?" Ginny didn't feel like saying the actual words; it sounded much better this way.  
  
"You know I would let you know if I had." Harry paused. "Gin, I'm really glad that you decided to do this." She just shrugged. "And I think that the sooner you two get married, the better. We should step up the communications process a bit, to hurry things along. Maybe you could sit down and have a meeting-"   
  
"Me? Shouldn't you be there too?" Harry frowned.  
  
"Gin," he started, speaking very slowly. "After seeing Lucius Malfoy in those Death Eater robes after Cedric died, how can you expect me to sit down calmly and plan a wedding-"  
  
"And how can you expect me to marry that?" cut in Ginny angrily.  
  
"Ginny, I don't mean to set a double standard, but it's different. Lucius Malfoy is -and we know this for a fact- one of Voldemort's staunchest supporters. How hard would it be for him to just kill me off right then and there, saving a lot of problems? Now that the Malfoys have started owling me -well, actually they only did it once- I have had to inspect every single owl I get, hoping its not jinxed or hexed to kill me right then and there. Do you really think Lucius Malfoy would hesitate to kill me?"  
  
"Then what about just Draco?"  
  
"I have long suspected he followed in his fathers footsteps, and I can't be too careful."   
  
"But once again- I am supposed to marry that!"   
  
"But the difference is that they need you, Gin. They need you to be alive to fulfill the prophecy."   
  
"But if you're dead, then they wont need me! What's would happen then?"   
  
"But I have to die before that will happen. And who knows, maybe by then you'll have made yourself invaluable to them."   
  
"How?"  
  
"Maybe by being the mother of the next Malfoy heir? I doubt they would ever allow anything to happen to you then."   
  
"Harry, let me be clear on this one point. I. Am. Not. Having. Children. With. Draco. Malfoy. Is that clear?" Harry just smiled.   
  
"But back to the beginning; you really should sit down and talk with them." Ginny just sighed.   
  
***  
  
'"Compassion...Cruel...Innocence...Corruption...Tainted evermore?' Ha! 'Better blend?' I think not. 'A tree and a gem?' Who came up with that one? 'Walking contradictions to each other.' That one I can believe. 'Complementing each other?...fair of face as fair of mind?' Must be her, couldn't be me. Ahh, I guess I'm the one who is 'striking and sharp in wit!"' Draco read over the prophecy, his response one of cynicism and amusement. "You have got to be kidding me!" he observed to his father. They were sitting in the elder Malfoys study.   
  
"I'm not."   
  
"Listen, you cannot make me believe this pile of horse hockey."  
  
"Well, you don't have to. You just have to marry the girl. I don't believe most of it either, but our Dark Lord says that you will marry her, and so you shall."  
  
"But a Weasley?" said Draco, trying to appeal to his father's family pride.  
  
"I don't like it either, but who are we to question what our Lord says?"   
  
"Father, I really don't think that this is a good idea. What if its just another one of Potters brilliant ideas to infiltrate the ranks of-"   
  
"Once again, Draco, who are you to question the Dark Lords orders?" Lucius paused. "Also, He has sources that we know nothing of. If He says that this is the right course of action, then I believe Him. I have not gained my status as one of our Lords most trusted and loyal supporters by supposing that I know better. You would be well to follow that example." Draco was tempted to sneer, but wisely kept his expression blank.  
  
"I see," he replied instead. "When is this wedding going to take place?"   
  
"As soon as the girl is out of school." Draco's eyes widened slightly.   
  
"But that is only three months from now!"   
  
"Very observant, Draco." Lucius remarked sarcastically as he rose from his chair and walked off.   
  
"Well, at least I get I corrupt her!" Draco muttered cynically.   
  
AN: Thanks ArchArtist/Writer, RosyCheeks, cassie, snow-baby, Hplova4eva, LuSa, Faith Akiyama, kneh13, Electryone, bobcat, starryn1ght, and everyone else who reviewed for the first installment. Keep it up!  
  
Also, sorry if this chapter was confusing. Just let me know if it was, I can fix it, if I need to! 


	4. A Contract, a Discussion and a New Famil...

Disclaimer: Wow, totally not mine...well, I mean what I wrote was, but the characters...definitely not.  
  
My goodness! I can't believe it's taken me so long to do this! School has been so hectic, and I've been to Outdoor School, and just got back from a retreat (Chalk it up!!) and I'm sick! The worst part is that while I've had all this time to write, I did this whole chapter today, since I got home from school. Pathetic. Forgive me? Enjoy!  
  
Chapter Four: A Contract, a Discussion and a New Family  
  
Ginny paced the room. Up and down, back and forth, again and again. Obviously agitated, she tried to sit, but got up again as soon as she did. What she wouldn't give for a massage! She checked the clock for easily the tenth time in as many minutes, continuing to pace. Nothing would calm her down- in less than an hour, she would be meeting with the Malfoys, and she was at her wit's end with nervousness, and even looked completely ruffled. A shiver shook her body, Merlin, how slowly time was passing.  
  
Malfoy Manor was huge, and Ginny felt so incredibly out of place. She did not belong somewhere as lavish as this- there were more rooms here than she would know what to do with. And more than lavish, the place seemed empty; Ginny had never seen a place less homey, and the insincere decor accosted her from all sides. There were no happy family pictures; instead there were ancient and dry paintings of long-dead Malfoy ancestors. As she followed the butler she had met last time she was here, Ginny's sense of apprehension began to fade, and once again a numb feeling took over. Whatever happened here today was out of her control, and with that thought foremost in her mind, Ginny took the step over the threshold and into the room where three Malfoy aristocrats waited.  
  
Ginny did not need to take a deep breath to appear composed- she was calm and strong. Holding her chin high, a slight nod was all the recognition she gave to the others sitting around the circular table. Ginny sat in the one empty chair, and the small-talk that appeared to have been transpiring halted.  
  
"Hello, Miss Weasley." said the cool voice of Narcissa Malfoy.  
  
"Good afternoon." Ginny replied.  
  
"Virginia, is it?" the cool voice asked again. Ginny could barely keep from staring. This woman expected Ginny to marry her son, and didn't even know her name?  
  
"Yes, it is." An awkward silence filled the room, and only then did Ginny allow herself to look more thoroughly about the table. There sat Lucius on her right, Narcissa on her left and her future husband dead ahead.  
  
"Well," broke in the smooth tones of the Malfoy patriarch. "How about we begin? Virginia, I believe you know about this," he handed her a copy of the prophecy, "so there shouldn't be that much to discuss. You will be married within the summer. You will be a member of the Malfoy family, and with that comes responsibility. Your behavior must be impeccable, your manners first-rate, an overall gentlewoman of the highest class. I'm sure Narcissa can help you with your conduct." Ginny gave an icy smile. "Other than that, though..." He let the words hang.  
  
"Actually," put in Ginny, "I believe there are some issues we need to cover. This is a marriage of convenience, as you know, and so I would like to set some ground rules."  
  
Lucius raised an eyebrow at her. "Please continue, Virginia."  
  
"I would like to have another residence, perhaps a cottage somewhere, and-"  
  
"And what are we to tell people if you don't live with us? Whether we like it or not, your name will be associated with ours, and I do not believe it would be good for you to move out right away. Perhaps in ten or so years."  
  
"If it is your image that you're concerned with, I'll appear at social events and such. No one needs to know that I don't live here. I just didn't think you'd appreciate it if my friends and family frequented the manor." Lucius grimaced.  
  
"Thank you for bringing up that subject, Miss Weasley. I do not believe that we would benefit at all from an association with Potter or the rest of the Weasley clan. Thus, we thought it might be better if you would occasionally visit them, not the other way around. Perhaps on birthdays and an occasional major holiday?"  
  
Ginny leaned in. "I'm seventeen years old. I don't think I'm ready to give up my family and friends."  
  
Lucius leaned in the same amount as Ginny had. "First of all, that is part of what marriage entails. Second, you won't be losing anything, seeing as how you'll become part of our family." The smirk stretching across Lucius' face was just as disconcerting as the one often found on Draco's.  
  
"Speaking of families..." broke in Narcissa.  
  
"Ah, thank you for reminding me. You will have to bear a Malfoy heir."  
  
"What!" demanded Ginny. "Why in Merlin's name would I have to do that-"  
  
"Because," interrupted Lucius, "it is the duty of a Malfoy wife. She needs to provide an heir. That is why we marry at all." Seeing the stubborn refusal ready on Ginny's face, Lucius' eyes lit up. "I have an idea. You provide a male heir to the Malfoy line, and you get your cottage in the mountains, freedom from social events, and a biannual allowance of, say, a three thousand gallons."  
  
Ginny bit back the objection she had ready on her tongue. That seemed like a fairly sweet deal, though it did involve sleeping with Draco. There were potions that could increase fertility, so she probably only needed to do it once or twice. "And what then? Am I supposed to live alone for the rest of my life in a cottage?" Though it was what she wanted, Ginny was also curious what the answer would be.  
  
Narcissa looked directly at her. "Not necessarily alone...just discreetly. There is to be no scandal nor children that could be considered bastards. Any children born of you while there is a Malfoy patriarch alive must be unmistakably of Malfoy blood. Is that clear?"  
  
"Completely." replied Ginny, breathing a mental sigh of relief- her life wouldn't necessarily be over the moment she married a Malfoy, as long as she was "discrete".  
  
"Yes," agreed Lucius, "you must understand that when you marry into this family, you become almost our property. There will be no divorce for any reason, and even if my son were to perish before you, as long as a Malfoy male was alive to care for you, you could not be allowed to remarry without their expressed permission."  
  
Ginny leaned back in her chair, thinking the whole thing over. It was not a half bad deal. True, she would have to bear a child to Draco, but that was the worst..."Am I able to leave right after having a child?"  
  
Narcissa frowned. "I suppose, if that is what you want, you may. However, I thought the Weasley clan was more maternal than that." A wave of guilt washed over Ginny- she wasn't sure she would be able to leave an infant that she had spent nine months caring for.  
  
"Well, actually, I was thinking that perhaps the child would spend half his time here, and perhaps half his time with me?"  
  
"No." said Lucius sternly. "This son will be a Malfoy, deserving only the best. You would have to come here to visit him. This house seen the raising of a millennia of Malfoy sons, and my grandson will not be the one to break that tradition."  
  
"I see." And she did. Still, it was a good deal- she supposed that once her son left for Hogwarts, he would only be home during the summer. She could manage three months a year here. Unless... "I have another question- what if I have is a girl?" "Well," replied Lucius slowly, "the contract would not be fulfilled, and you w ould have to keep trying until a son is born. If he dies before siring his own son, another son would be required of you. If it were two hundred years ago, I would advise you to perhaps have several sons in case one dies, but the child death rate is much lower now, and it is up to you to take that chance."  
  
"What if I never have a boy?"  
  
"When the oldest daughter is eighteen, and you have been continuously attempting to bear a son, the daughter may marry a man of her father or grandfather's choosing, with the understanding that she must bear a son to be raised as a Malfoy." All the politics of childbearing were making Ginny's head spin, but she still had one more question.  
  
"And say I have a daughter, then a son. May I have the raising of the daughter while the Malfoy family has the raising of the son?"  
  
Lucius frowned. "In that case, I suppose it would be acceptable for you to have her half the time, the other half being spent here. Any other questions?"  
  
"I don't believe so, no."  
  
"In that case, let us set the wedding date." uttered Narcissa excitedly. "I was thinking perhaps the estival equinox."  
  
"But that's just two months from now!" exclaimed Ginny.  
  
"Actually, more like two and a half months," Narcissa commented with a look that said "learn how to count".  
  
"Well, Virginia, what do you say?" asked Lucius, holding in front of him a marriage contract, with what looked to be dozens of clauses, consisting of everything they had discussed the past hour.  
  
And Ginny thought. This was the biggest sacrifice she could make, the most important thing she could do for the Order. And it didn't seem like it would be so bad. She would, of course, have to engage in a few baby-making activities (which, looking at the man sitting across from her, might not be so bad), pop out a kid or two, and live the rest of her life away from here, happy with her friends and family. But the most important thing was that, by doing this, she would be enabling Harry to win, or at least give him the opportunity to win.  
  
There wasn't even that much to think about- there was a prophecy saying she and Draco would be married, and so it would be best if Ginny set the terms (which she had done), because she had no doubt that if she didn't sign this contract, she and Draco would end up marrying each other somehow. This way, Ginny at least got everything she wanted.  
  
"Do you have a quill?" Ginny asked. However, as soon as she spoke those words, apprehension filled her again. Was she signing her life away? Well, she thought, if she was, than it was for a good cause. Lucius handed her a quill, and Ginny scrawled her name on the parchment and handed it back to her future father-in-law, who handed it to her groom-to-be. Draco had still not spoken the entire time, and continued to be silent as he wrote his name.  
  
"Now, Virginia, I will provide you with 2,000 gallons for the wedding. It will be the social event of the season you know, so I want you to look your best. I have allocated you room for fifty guests, which I'm sure you'll be able to manage to fill." Ginny grimaced at the snub about the size of her family. "We will select the bridesmaids, you just need to purchase a dress for the engagement party, a wedding gown and anything else you might want. Leave the engagement party, and the decorations, location, and reception for the wedding all to us."  
  
"What about rings?" asked Ginny, thinking of the ring her antiquated ring her mother had promised her for the wedding.  
  
"We will provide those as well. Any questions?"  
  
"So you just want me to show up June 21st? That's it?"  
  
"No, I'm sure I will either accompany you on a shopping expedition, or request that you stop by, just to make sure everything flows, and the bridesmaid dresses go well with your dress. Also, we will have to have an engagement party. I'll contact you to let you know when that will be...perhaps within the first five days of May? Yes, I think that will do." Narcissa commented. "If you need more money, just let me know."  
  
Ginny took a deep breath and stood up. "All right, I will." And with another cool nod to everyone in the room, she exited.  
  
Ginny did not hear the comment made as she left: "Maybe she will fit in all right after all- I haven't met someone so disdainful and haughty in years, and especially from someone so plebeian. She just might pull the aristocratic thing off after all."  
  
And then the reply: "Doubtful."  
  
Review!...You know you want to! 


	5. Sing Like No One Is Listening

AN: It's snowing! And snowing, and snowing some more! Haha there hasn't been snow in Portland in ages, and I don't think we've ever gotten out of school for it before. Ahh, this is great. Happy holidays (a few days late) to everyone, and be thankful for the snow. And the ice. And the freezing rain. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter Three: Sing Like No One Is Listening  
  
In all, Ginny didn't think the whole meeting thing went too badly; sure, there were a few snubs, and sure, she didn't like how they kept calling her "Virginia", but she wasn't sure she would have appreciated the familiarity "Ginny" hinted at, so it was all right. Her biggest concern, though, was Draco. On the broomride home, Ginny found herself second-guessing her decision- it had sounded like a good enough deal while she was sitting there, in the Manor, but now...Ginny shook her head to dispel her anxiety. But Draco, sitting there, silent the entire time, what did he think of this? And why hadn't he commented at all? He never had a problem speaking before. And why were the two elder Malfoys so...civil? She had not expected them to act be so cooperative, generally giving in to her demands (like the house), and bargaining for the rest. And they had even volunteered to pay for not only the wedding, but the engagement party, reception, wedding gown and just about everything. Ginny just had to assume that they did not want to be disgraced any more than they already would be by being related to a Weasley. Still, Ginny didn't think that the whole marriage thing would end up being too bad. Until she got home, that is.  
  
It was a weekend, so there was no school, and considering Ginny's special circumstances, Dumbledore had allowed Ginny to go home for the weekend. And the second Ginny landed in the yard, her family came crowding up around her.  
  
"What happened, dear?" asked her mother.  
  
"Ginny? Tell us everything!" from one of her brothers, and Harry, asking, "Is it all settled?" The only immediate reply she made was to Harry, looking at him and nodding her head.  
  
"Come sit down, honey," said her mother, shooing everyone else away. But Harry, Ron and Hermione refused to leave, and the five of them walked into the house together. After sitting everyone down, Molly made tea, and once everyone was settled, asked Ginny to tell the whole story.  
  
"I got there, and sat down with them, and we planned it all out."  
  
"Who was there?" asked Hermione inquisitively.  
  
"Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa and Draco."  
  
"When is the wedding?" Harry asked agitatedly.  
  
"Before the end of the summer. Probably on the solstice." Harry breathed a sigh of relief, while Molly started.  
  
"But that's so soon!" she demanded. "How will we have time to arrange everything?"  
  
"Mum," explained Ginny, "they are doing all of the arranging. All we have to do is get a dress. Or two, actually- one for the wedding and one for the engagement party." Her mother looked like she couldn't decide if she was happy that they wouldn't have to pay that much or disappointed that she would not be as active a person in her only daughter's wedding as she would like to be.  
  
"So, give us the details! Go over everything clearly!" demanded Hermione. And so Ginny did.  
  
***  
  
When Ginny got back to school, she was less distracted that she had been, and tried to cram as much information in her head for the N.E.W.T.s as humanly possible. She still had her pride, and so though she wasn't relaying on her scores for a career, she wanted to do her best. And maybe she would need to work at some point- Ginny couldn't imagine sitting around and doing nothing all day, everyday for the rest of her life. When she finally took the tests, she thought she had probably passed everything- not necessarily getting "Outstanding" on anything, but at least passing. It was unnerving to know that when she received her scores, she would already be married; the wedding seemed to be coming up way too fast.  
  
She received a note from the Malfoys (no doubt Narcissa; Ginny didn't think the male Malfoys would have cared one way or the other about her) inviting her to a "family gathering" in honor of Draco's nineteenth birthday the week after meeting with them. Ginny, as much as she wanted to decline the invitation, didn't think she had much of a choice. It did not seem like anyone would be making the real reason for their marriage public, and thus it was up to Ginny to play the part of the doting fiancé. Or maybe the Malfoys would explain the circumstances of the marriage, and the reason their son had to marry such "muggle-loving filth" as they had once put it. Ginny had no idea; all she knew was that the prophecy had never been made public, and so apparently the only people who knew about it were those in the Order, the Malfoys, and perhaps other Death Eaters. Ginny shuddered again, wondering if there would be any Death Eaters at this "family gathering", or at the wedding. She wasn't sure if she could handle it -coming face to face with a murderer- but then she realized she already had. In fact, she spent most of an hour with him, writing a marriage contract. Whether her future husband was one was open to guesses. Ginny supposed she would find out when she saw his arm, but when would that be? When it was time to engage in baby-making activities? Could she actually do something that intimate with a murderer? There was only one way to find out, and that would be to go through with this marriage...Though at this point she had signed a contract, and Ginny doubted that any amount of second thoughts would be able to save her from fulfilling that promise.  
  
She wrote back asking what she should wear.  
  
***  
  
As it turned out, Malfoy Manor had a ballroom. Ginny knew that if she had thought about it, she might have guessed, but she had never stopped to consider. However, the ballroom was exquisite, and Ginny had to admit she would not mind living in such a beautiful house.  
  
And tonight, Ginny felt pretty enough to belong in this house. As the party was on a Saturday, she had returned home after classes on Friday, and went shopping in Diagon Alley for some new dress robes. The ones she finally selected were fairly simple, just plain black. However, they were, at the same time, extremely elegant, and suited her well. Her mother had swept Ginny's hair up on top of her head, and after a very light application of cosmetics, was ready to leave. She took a deep breath before entering the ballroom, and immediately gasped. If this was a simple family gathering, what would a much more elaborate wedding look like? There were easily a hundred people in the room, and, looking around, Ginny thought she knew maybe five of them, including the three Malfoys. There were a few faces from Hogwarts that she recognized, but other than that, Ginny was completely alone.  
  
Narcissa saw her, and waved Ginny over towards the group of ladies she was standing with. Although, as she came closer, Ginny realized that the group was not made up of all ladies- there was one man standing towards the middle, and it looked as though he was being fawned over. That man leaned over when he saw Ginny and gave her a fairly unenthusiastic and light kiss on the lips.  
  
"So glad you could make it, dear." Draco said, with only the slightest bit of sarcasm. In fact, Ginny guessed that she and perhaps his mother were the only people who caught it, as it was almost unnoticeable if you weren't looking for it. She just smiled in return. Draco took her arm and put it through his own, and that was how Ginny spent the next few hours.  
  
Her feet were beginning to hurt horribly, and she was completely sick of smiling at people by the time that dinner was served. Ginny was sure that people were completely unimpressed with her, and were probably gossiping even now about how plain, uncommunicative and lowborn she must be but Ginny did not care. In fact, right now the only thing she cared about was getting off her feet and putting something in her belly. Thus when dinner was announced, it was with a certain joy that Ginny accompanied her fiance to the dining hall. But she had not been expecting how slowly dinner would be served. There were easily seven courses (she didn't bother counting), and Ginny just wished they would just put all the bloody food out there so she could eat!  
  
She was seated next to her groom-to-be, and so the conversation was never exactly easy. In fact, Ginny was beginning to think that this night was the least she had talked since she was in her second year and Harry had come to stay. There was simply nothing she wanted to talk about with these people, and Ginny had no particular desire to impress them.  
  
She had planned to make a early exit, and thus three hours into the party leaned over into Draco's ear and whispered that she not only had to study tomorrow, but write a few papers as well, and so she should be going soon. He raised his eyebrows at her and whispered back that the party was just starting. And so Ginny did not get free.  
  
The pile of presents at a table at the far end of the room was incredible auspicious, and Ginny felt a moment's apprehension at not getting Draco a gift. She wasn't sure how everything worked at such a fancy party, but at her family birthday celebrations, the person with the birthday sat down and opened all their presents. With so many people, Ginny thought it was unlikely that they would follow that tradition, but then again if six months ago someone had told her that she would be standing here, holding on to her fiance Draco Malfoy's arm, she would have laughed in their face.  
  
Luckily, Ginny was right and nobody made any move to open the presents. In fact, everyone just seemed content to mingle, speaking to everyone they knew, making small talk. It wasn't until Ginny had drunk her third glass of whatever it was that the servants were passing around that she noticed that many of the men had left the room, and what was left was primarily women. It wasn't long after Ginny made this mental observation that Draco excused himself, saying that he had something to attend to. It wouldn't have mattered, except it left her alone in a room full of people. Such a contradiction, she thought to herself as she walked over to Narcissa, planning on finally excusing herself and returning to Hogwarts. But no, she mustn't, Narcissa said. It wouldn't do to excuse herself with saying goodbye to Draco. Since there was no one else around when Ginny asked this question, she proceeded with another one.  
  
"Am I correct in assuming that nobody knows the real reason behind the marriage, about the prophecy and all?" she asked.  
  
"Correct. It wouldn't do to get word of the prophecy out to too many people; someone intent on keeping this war from happening might think to murder one of you, and this stalemate could continue. I at least know that this war is inevitable, and the sooner it's over the better." She said with a sigh. For the first time, Ginny wondered if Narcissa was a Death Eater, or which cause she supported. Her own family was riddled with Death Eaters (no pun intended), but Ginny thought her perhaps brisk and unsentimental, not evil. "Plus, Malfoys marry for political or social reasons, perhaps even love occasionally, but not because of a prophecy." In answer, Ginny just took another glass from a passing servant, and downed it within a few seconds.  
  
***  
  
Draco was also sipping from his glass at that moment, sitting in a room that had was smoke-free despite all the men with cigars. "Anti-smoke charm," he identified it to himself. Then, another toast, and another drink from his glass. He was going to be smashed by the time this party was over, considering how many toasts were being made in his name. It was his nineteenth birthday, and he wasn't sure this was how he wanted to be celebrating, here with his family and "friends" of the family. They were his father's friends, or people his father wanted to impress and flatter. Many ministry officials, reporters, and even an Auror or two were present. There were no Death Eaters invited to this gathering; his father was high enough in the ranks that he needed to butter up no one, and those he would want to impress would not have risked showing up here.  
  
Another toast, another empty, meaningless and most likely untrue kind word, and another drink from the glass. And suddenly, he didn't want to deal with it anymore. Draco's whole world felt incredibly weighty, and he did not want to have to cope with it anymore. A quick nod to his father was all it took, letting Lucius know that he was stepping out for a moment. The hallways did not seem any less confining, and right know, open air seemed the only place where Draco could just breathe in, just live. And so he headed for the open-air balcony that was off the corner of the ballroom- just in time to hear someone fumbling, looking like they were attempting tolocate their cloak. He looked closer, and saw that he recognized the someone as Virginia Weasley. Slowly, Draco walked off the balcony, toward the girl.  
  
"Leaving already?" he asked, leaning over her shoulder. She jumped and Draco smirked. Without turning around she answered: "Yes, I have studying to do." Draco just snorted, but Ginny continued putting her cloak on. "Happy Birthday," Ginny muttered.  
  
"What, no birthday present for your future husband?" asked Draco sarcastically. At this, Ginny did turn around, and answered simply, "No." He knew that his proximity was unnerving her, but Draco did not want to move away. He just stood there, breathing the same air as this girl, thinking thoughts that he would never have even considered if it hadn't been for all the Ogden's Firewhisky. And so he did the unthinkable. Or perhaps, he reasoned to himself, it wasn't unthinkable. He would have to kiss her sometime. And what better time than the present. Ginny stiffened, obviously startled, but she relaxed after a second, and Draco could tell that she wasn't entirely sober either. So he kissed her harder. He had nothing to lose, and it was his birthday. After a moment, he felt the weight of her arms around his neck, and he kissing him back.  
  
"Um hum!" The two broke apart in record time, and Ginny spun to finish putting on her cloak without even looking to see who it was who had come upon them. But Draco obviously had.  
  
"Fudge."  
  
"Your father just told me to come find you...It seems you opened one of your presents a little early, eh?" Draco just looked stonily at the Minister.  
  
"Minister, meet my fiance," he said, forcing Ginny to turn around. Fudge's eyes got wide when he saw who it was.  
  
"I heard you were engaged, but..." his voice trailed off.  
  
"Excuse me, I have to get back to school," Ginny muttered. Fudge didn't say anything, eyes still wide, but Draco replied, "See you later, darling." Once again stressing the last word in a way that imparted the maximum amount of sarcasm possible.  
  
"Bye."  
  
Thank you to all the people who have reviewed the last chapter and the story. I love you! And you can be nice and continue this nice little trend and review some more! 


	6. Bigger Dreams

To any of those who are still reading this, I sincirely apologize. I feel as though I have let you down. I simply forgot all about this story, but I will try to make it up by finishing it soon. I hope to finish it before the 6th comes out, because I hate to find out how many elements will be changed. So wish me luck, read and enjoy.

Bigger Dreams

The first thing Ginny was aware of was the sharp pain in her head. The second thing was voices, and not quiet voices either. She wanted to turn over and cover her ears with her pillow, but that meant moving her head, and Ginny thought the probable pain outweighed the relief of the cessation of noise. Or at least she thought so until the voices escalated into shrieks, leaving her with no choice but to get up and make herself some sort of potion. She managed to stumble out of bed and begin to lay out ingredients for a cure-all-minor-aliments potion when she remembered the small bottle she had lying around just for occasions such as these. Ginny walked- stumbled, more accurately- over to her dresser and downed the bottle. She began to feel better immediately, but began to think about the reasons she was feeling so badly this morning, and she still remembered last night acutely. All the drinking, and of course the kiss. All stupid, wicked things for her to do. But what's done cannot be undone. However, the thought of facing Malfoy now seemed unbearable. And, to make it worse, just the next day, she received an invitation to her own engagement party.

Time seemed to be flying by. Things were moving too quickly for Ginny- it seemed only a few months ago she had been innocent of the knowledge of the prophecy which now seemed to be dictating her life. The announcement that she and Malfoy were "lovers", the contract, his birthday and now this engagement party all seemed to be happening too fast. And she knew that things weren't about to slow down anytime soon; the wedding was only a month or so away. The time leading up to the wedding would undoubtedly be chaotic; after the wedding was an unknown. It was the five or so days after she had received the invitation, and the idea of going through another ordeal like the birthday celebration filled her with dread. Ginny wasn't sure that she was a good enough actress to be "in love" with Draco in front of all these people. Especially after that damn kiss. It was haunting her, and she replayed it over and over again in her mind. What in damnation possessed him to kiss her! And where had her own mind been when she kissed back. Would he do it again? Or would he pretend like it had never happened. She had tasted the firewhiskey on his breath, and it was possible that he didn't remember it had happened at all. But Draco didn't seem like the kind of man to drink so much he would become inebriated. But who knew? After all, Ginny herself wasn't privy to Draco's drinking habits, or at least not yet.

It was already May; summer was fast approaching, and Ginny was almost at a loss over what to do. Her life was going to change dramatically, and there was almost nothing she could do about it, save to go with what life was giving her. Obviously there was nothing to do save go shopping for a dress for the engagement party. The next weekend, Ginny left the school and went to Madame Malkins for the second time in as many weeks. This time, though, the idea was not to simply impress, but to create a life for her, an image of a girl content with her life and excited about her upcoming marriage. So instead of choosing dress robes like she did for the birthday celebration, she ended up picking out a simple black dress, which once again was incredibly elegant. Looking in the mirror at the store, she looked aloof, even to herself. And Ginny guess that if she was to be a Malfoy, aloofness was an asset. Looking at herself in the mirror, Ginny was also struck by how old she was. She looked like a woman, not a girl about to graduate. A slight smile formed upon her lips.

Her invitation had asked her to appear two hours before the party was due to start, and when she did arrive, Narcissa wasted not time in hurrying her into a sitting room, and bid her to wait for a moment, please. Draco walked in a few minutes later, looking rather good. He bid her to stand up, and paused for a moment, looking at her.

"You'll do." Was all he said regarding her appearance. "Hold out your hand." Ginny did as she was told, and watched him remove a beautiful ring from his pocket, and put it on her finger. The ring, made of sapphires, diamonds and a bit of turquoise was not only exquisite, but a perfect fit.

"Thank you," Ginny said politely.

"I don't think you really want to be thanking me." And it was true- Ginny didn't really want the ring, or what went with it. But there was not really any choice in the matter, and she had decided to do her best to be content with what she had.

The silence was deafening. It was stretching on, and Ginny began to feel even more uncomfortable then she had been before. She looked around for a place to sit- the room was large and very nicely furnished, and Ginny chose a small and comfortable-looking chair only a few feet behind her.

Draco stood up abruptly and walked over to a cabinet. "Would you like anything to drink?" he asked, while pouring himself something.

"No thank you, I rarely drink." He looked over at her, and Ginny knew that he remembered what had happened the last time they were together, and also knew that she had been drinking. When she offered no explanation, he reached and lifted his own drink to his lips, his eyes never leaving hers.

Again there was silence, but this time it was even more disconcerting, because his eyes were boring holes into her own. There was no small talk that would be appropriate here, now, between the two of them. The temptation to just walk out of this room was almost overwhelming, but Ginny knew that if she was to marry this man, she could not walk out now. She was stuck with this man, whether she liked it or not.

"But a bit of tea might be nice," she said, realizing that she wanted something to occupy her hands while she sat here. Though Ginny didn't see Draco move, he must have done something to summon a house-elf because one appeared in the room only seconds later.

"Tea for the lady." The house-elf nodded at Draco's orders and disappeared again, almost as quickly as she had appeared. The awkward silence did not show any indication of letting up any time soon.

The house-elf popped back in carrying a tray with a pot of tea and a cup. The house-elf set it down carefully on the end table next to her chair and proceeded to pour her a cup of tea. "Thank you," Ginny murmured before the house-elf disappeared again. The tea was warm and soothing, and Ginny was glad of the distraction, and the silence seemed to ease up a bit, maybe because they were both occupied with drinking something, which lessened the need to converse.

Abruptly, Draco walked from the room, leaving Ginny alone there. Wondering what, if anything, she was supposed to do right now, she stood up and, walking over to the door, opened it and peeked into the hall to see what might be going on. It was silent, not a soul in sight. Part of her wondered to where everyone had disappeared, but there was a part of her that cautioned herself not to go exploring in this strange house. She took a deep breath and, stifling her curiosity, she made to return to her seat. She was only halfway there when the thought occurred to her that if she was to live in this house, she should at least know her way around, and there was only one way to learn one's way around, and that was to explore. "Besides," she reasoned to herself, "it's not like my situation could get much worse." Thus Ginny turned around and proceeded to once again stick her head out the door. There was still no living soul in sight, and Ginny stepped out of the room carefully and quietly. The hall was long and ornate, and even the people in the paintings seemed stuffy and grandiloquent. However pompous they seemed, though, Ginny had to admit that they were in fact eloquent. Their clothes were elaborate, and they always struck poses when they saw Ginny walking toward them. Every line in their faces screamed arrogant, every color in the portraits spoke of wealth, and Ginny knew that she was looking at some of the wealthiest wizards in history. Their aristocratic faces looked down on her as she walked by, making Ginny feel small and imperfect. The hall grew darker the farther Ginny walked, with only occasional torches to light the way. It was almost eerie, and Ginny brought out her wand.

"Whence do you come?" Ginny jumped, her hand tightening on her wand. It was a portrait that had addressed her, a tall woman, painted in a distinctly medieval setting. Her skin was pale and without impurities, her portrait by far the largest Ginny had come across. The tone was accusatory, and Ginny's knuckles were white around her wand.

"Hogwarts, currently." Ginny answered.

"And what are you doing in my house?" Again, the question was biting, and Ginny flinched at the harshness in the woman's tone. This was the family Ginny was marrying into, and she had to hope that the rest of the family wasn't quite as blunt and acerbic as this woman.

"I'm here for my engagement party," Ginny answered simply and honestly.

"To whom will you be married?"

"Draco Malfoy." At hearing this the woman's forehead creased slightly.

"And who might you be?"

"My name is Ginny Weasley."

The woman frowned again, then replied, "Well, your blood is old, and it is pure. There is much to be said for a good lineage. I supposes you are acceptable. You seem polite enough, though not too talkative. There is also much to be said for a woman who minds her tongue." The woman paused, then gestured down in her portrait to a chess board. "Would you like to play a game?"

Ginny frowned. "Wouldn't that be rather difficult as..." She trailed off. Some paintings weren't quite aware that they were mere paintings, and Ginny was afraid that this woman was mad, and thus didn't want to offend her.

"Because I'm a portrait? You just tell me where you want to move, and I shall move your pieces for you. Time was, young Lucius would often play with me. His father was also wont to playing. That is one request I have of you, girl. When you have your son, bring him to play Wizard's Chess here with me. One of the best strategizing practices of which I've ever heard, and nothing is better than for young Malfoys to learn the art of strategizing." When Ginny didn't move, the woman shooed her closer, and they began to play.

Much Love, Miss Auburn


	7. One More Lie

Well I kept at least this promise, and I did indeed update again. Yay for me! I'm glad so many people enjoyed the previous chapter, and thank you so much for reviewing. I hope to be able to continue to update fairly quickly, but I can't guarantee anything. This past week was my birthday, so everyone was willing to leave me alone when I wished to write. But finals are coming up, and I'm missing a week of school for Outdoor School. So with me luck and I'll try to update again as soon as possible.

One More Lie

"Bloody hell." It was seven in the evening, the engagement party was due to start, and Ginny was nowhere to be seen. Draco had left her alone in the room for fifteen minutes, and she vanished. Imagining the trouble into which she could have gotten, he groaned. That girl was more trouble than she was worth. Pacing around the room, looking at things she might have touched and wishing that they provided clues as to her destination, Draco began to vent his frustration in angry words whispered into the air. He poked his head out the door, looking down the empty hall. Hoping Ginny had not ventured this way, Draco slowly made his way along. He stopped at the first occupied painting he came to, and demanded if the man had seen a red-headed girl come this way.

"Perhaps."

"I don't have time for this!" Draco explained. "Did she come this way or not?"

"I saw her. I know her. She is a Weasley. What is she doing here? I would have recognized her anywhere."

Draco almost didn't want to answer-he couldn't imagine sharing the news that he would be married to the girl with someone who didn't know his reasons, and someone who would raise hell when he heard. Thus Draco left behind the painting, and continued to walk down the hall. The doors in the hall were all locked, so he was able to continue straight down the hallway, without worrying that Ginny had wandered off into one of the rooms adjacent to the hall. Draco quickened his stride, as time was running short. Voices quietly drifted through the air, so quiet that he wasn't sure it was real people rather than paintings. He stopped; the voices did seem to be coming from father ahead, and once again, Draco started forward. Sure enough, the voices began to be stronger, and he was able to identify one of the voices as Ginny's. She was sitting on a stool facing a painting, to which she was pointing and, apparently, talking.

"What the hell are you doing?" Draco demanded of Ginny.

"That is no way to speak to your future bride!" The reprimand echoed through the halls, spoken by the woman in the painting.

"Aurelia! I don't need your meddling in my affairs. You have done enough." Draco turned. "Ginny, come with me. Now."

"Draco Malfoy!" the woman named Aurelia scolded, "You owe me more respect than that! Now, your girl and I have a game of chess to finish, and she will be staying here until it is done."

"She will come with me," Draco announced, leaning over and grasping her arm. He tugged, but Ginny didn't stand up.

"Let go," she hissed at him, jerking her arm out of his grasp. "You don't own me."

"Not yet!" he hissed back. Ginny's eyes widened.

"You will never own me," she stated furiously. "Never." And with that she stood up and walked away farther down the corridor.

"Shit," said Draco, sitting down heavily. "Now I've got a room full of people waiting to see our 'happy couple' and I've alienated her even more." He paused. "What the hell do I do now?"

Aurelia sniffed. "I would have suggested never saying something so alienating in the first place." At Draco's frown, she huffed, "Or go apologize to her now."

"I don't apologize. I did nothing except state the truth. She will belong to me in just a few months."

"No woman, or person, wants to be owned. You're even less intelligent than I though if you don't know that. Now, I have a late afternoon tea to attend. Feel free to continue to mope, or be off." And with that, Aurelia stood and walked out of the painting. Draco continued to sit in silence for only a moment before standing and heading after Ginny. His shoes tattooed a beat on the hard stone floor, and he quickened his pace. Draco's head was in constant motion, swinging from side to side, his eyes scanning for only one thing- Ginny. He almost missed her; as it was, the sight didn't register in Draco's brain until after he had passed the alcove, and he did a double take before doubling back.

"Go away. I have nothing to say to you." Ginny's voice was calm, but Draco could see the tear tracks on her cheeks. At a loss at what to do, Draco stood there dumbly, and Ginny's temper erupted. "Leave me alone!" While her anger was overwhelming, Draco could also see that she was starting to cry again, and wasn't sure if he should follow her instructions or do something to comfort her. He was prideful and stubborn enough to not want to obey Ginny's and thus chose the latter. Draco closed the distance between then with a few quick, short steps, and put his arm around her shoulders. Ginny tried pushing at his chest, but soon put her head down in defeat, and began crying in earnest. Her tears soaked through Draco's shirt, but he didn't complain. It was necessary to calm her down enough to put on a show of being in love, and if he must sacrifice his shirt along the way, Draco was willing to do so.

"Why are you doing this?" Ginny asked, pulling back from his embrace, though his hand continued to move up and down her back slowly.

"Ginny," he answered slowly, "pretend to love me." Draco paused, his other hand reaching down and turning Ginny's chin toward him. "Are you ready?" Ginny's eyes were focused intently on Draco's and slowly, ever so slowly, she moved toward him.

"Thank you," she whispered. "You're a real asshole, but thank you." She took the last step and closed the distance between them, kissing his lips softly. Draco was still for a moment, then began to kiss her back. He wasn't sure what sparked this abrupt change of mood, but he was intelligent enough to not object out loud. Ginny wrapped her arms around Draco, hugging him tightly before she pulled away. "We better go."

Ginny felt stupid. Person after person came up to her and congratulated her on her impending marriage. Ginny smiled and thanked them. Every once in a while she would turn and gaze adoringly at Draco. He would whisper something in her ear, and she would blush. It was all a lie. Ginny felt like an actress, and believed she deserved an award for performance of the year. She was fooling everyone. Even the people who knew the truth looked confused. Several of the teachers from Hogwarts had taken the night off to attend, and they all watched Draco and her, searching for the truth under all their smiles. They didn't buy the act- while they didn't know about the prophecy, they had seen Draco and Ginny interact as recently as last year, and didn't believe any of the pretense Draco and Ginny were spouting. Ginny was rather nervous, as most of the people currently here were either friends of the Malfoys, media, or neutral parties who were still important enough to be invited. While Ginny's family and friends had been invited, she knew that it was not likely for them to attend.

Draco reaching for her hand, Ginny smiling up at him, hearing him softly say, "Time for dinner, love." It was too much for Ginny. She just wanted to break, but instead she made a small comment about being hungry, and walked toward the table with a goofy smile on her face, the smile of someone in love. The lies began to build up, and Ginny wanted nothing more than to just scream. But she didn't.

"Try one of these. You'll love them."

"Ooh, what is it? It looks delicious." The casual comments were the biggest lies of all. Never could Ginny imagine talking to Draco like this in real life. Looking at him was possible- he was a beautifully built man- but talking, not fighting, not screaming, not crying, that was pure prevarication.

Pretending to be in love with Draco was almost too easy. He had held her hand all the way back, but hadn't spoken but for once, to take out his wand and whisper "pulcherrima cutis". Ginny felt the blotches and redness she knew marred her face fade away. Ginny's emotions were in turmoil, and her appearance was not something she was worried about, but Ginny knew it was something she would have been embarrassed about later when she looked in the mirror, and it was kind of Draco to think to help. "Draco" and "kind" in the same sentence? Ginny thought to herself, and then chuckled. More likely, he didn't want to be embarrassed by Ginny's looks. But even reasoning that he had acted from less altruistic reasons, Ginny did feel kind of warm inside.

Ginny's musing were cut short when all the conversation in the room died, leaving empty silence in it's wake, a silence broken only by the clips of footsteps upon the marble of the floor. Ginny turned around to face the entrance, and was shocked to see not only her mother, father, Bill, Ron, the twins, and Hermione, but also Harry Potter himself, along with a troop of Ministry officials, and several other Order personal, all cloaked by Aurors. The tension level in the room continued to rise, as the group which had just walked in looked prepared for war. As a group, they took a stance suggesting someone, anyone, test them now. The Aurors were on the outside, as if they were protecting Harry and the other. Ginny slowly stood up, her hand still locked in Draco's, thus pulling him up with her. She began to walk toward the group, tugging Draco along with her.

"Mum, Dad. It's so nice to see you," said Ginny quietly. She was wondering why the Aurors were with them, then realized that while Harry couldn't yet die, he could still probably be harmed, and the Ministry wished to take no chances. Ginny stepped around the Aurors and Draco finally dropped her hand as she reached to hug both of her parents. She hugged her way down the line; Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and finally Harry. Draco continued to stand right behind her as she did this, almost as though he was guarding her from her family instead of the other way around. "Here, come and have something to eat," said Ginny, trying to restore feeling of normalcy to the room's atmosphere, and conversation did indeed start up again throughout the room, though it was more subdued than before. The Weasleys & Friends merely picked at the food-the situation was too tense for any of the them to enjoy anything.

"Ginny, may I speak privately with you for a moment?" Draco whispered into her ear, leading her out of the room and into a corridor.

"Sure," replied Ginny, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was observing them.

"I know this has to be hard," he said, turning her to face him. "The pressure is on right now. The night has been going well- I think we even have people who know the truth confused." The smirk which began to cover Draco's face started to fade as he continued. "But we're not done yet. They're going to toast us. We're going to be up in front of everyone," Draco said, leaning closer to her, "so pretend that you love me." Ginny placed a hand on his cheek, feeling the smooth skin under her fingers.

"Sometimes, Draco, I just don't know what to think," Ginny whispered.

"Pardon me," a voice cut in, and both Ginny and Draco whirled to face the speaker, the Boy Who Lived. "I just need a quick word with Ginny." Harry's voice was hard, and he frowned at both of them.

"I'll be waiting inside," Draco murmured to Ginny, and slowly walked back into the room.

"Did you follow us?" questioned Ginny quietly.

"I saw the two of you slip out, which was perfect because I needed to talk to you. You graduate soon, and I don't have much time to see you in private."

"What's up, Harry?"

"Partly I just wanted to see how you were doing. How is the whole Malfoy thing going along?"

"I think Harry," Ginny paused, took a deep breath and continued. "I really think it may be alright. Draco is an egotistical bastard, but he's not as bad as he used to be, I don't think."

"Well," said Harry cautiously, "that's good. I want to see you happy Ginny."

"How are things in the Order? Has anything changed? I swear no one is talking to me about anything anymore! Did that lead about Anita ever pan out?"

"Well," Harry paused. "That was something about which I needed to talk to you. Gin, listen, I know that you're not going to want- I mean... What I'm trying to say is that we -I- we think it would be better if you weren't actually in the Order, you know. I mean, if you're with the Malfoys, I would hate if something leaked out... Do you get what I'm saying?" Ginny was aghast.

"But, Harry, you know I could never tell them anything about the Order! How can you even-"

"No, I don't think you would willingly tell them anything. I'm just thinking of Kreacher, telling the Malfoys something that no one thought could be important, and it got Sirius killed. I want them to know as little as possible. I'm sure you can understand that?" Harry's voice was completely level, which infuriated Ginny even more.

"So you won't let me in the Order? I've been waiting for four years now! And with everything going so wrong lately, I haven't wanted the school year to end. The only consolation was that I would finally- finally!- be part of the Order. And now you tell me I can't!" Ginny was livid. "I'm sacrificing my bloody life and happiness for you guys, and you still won't let me in the Order?"

"It would just be safer-"

"Don't talk to me about safer!" Ginny yelled, pushing Harry out of her way and heading back into the dining room. "Don't talk to me period."

Much Love, Miss Auburn


	8. Deep Cries Out to Deep

Well, not that anyone _really_ cares, but I'm back from a wonderful week at ODS. Why is Outdoor School just the best place in the world? MC Spring 05 week 10 fo life!

Halfway to the dining room, Ginny abruptly turned around and stalked out of the mansion. She was too angry to stay inside another minute. Despite the fact that it was late spring, the evening air was cool and seemed to assault Ginny's lungs. She could smell the flowers in the gardens all around the house, and a subtler scent of the pine trees off in the distance. The gravel on which she was walking crunched under Ginny's feet, but that was the only sound that marred the silence of the night.

Why would Harry do such a thing? And more importantly, why did it hurt so badly that he had betrayed her so? The idea that Ginny would not be part of the Order was painful enough, but why would he let her down so badly! Ginny picked up a handful of gravel and threw it as far as she could, gaining satisfaction from the sound of it hitting objects in the distance. It felt so good, Ginny grabbed another handful of gravel and hurled it again. Then she sighed. Destroying something wouldn't serve any true purpose, and Malfoy Mansion looked glass-like enough that Ginny didn't want to be throwing stones.

There was no clear solution to this problem, and Ginny sat down heavily in the middle of the pathway in which she had been walking. The flowers were so aromatic they were almost suffocating, especially now they were on level with her nose. She just wanted to cry, but after already breaking down once today, Ginny was unwilling to lose control of her emotions twice in a day. Life had never been simple for Ginny and her family, but never before had anything been this complicated, so full of changes. Just wanting a blanked to cover her, so she could cuddle up, Ginny couldn't keep her childhood out of her head. She was leaving that all behind, and soon. In another month or so, this would be her home. She was sacrificing everything, and it felt like no one appreciated her. Ginny just wanted someone to hold her, and to tell her that they loved her, and she didn't have to go through with everything if she didn't want to do so.

Ginny had just calmed herself down enough to consider going back inside when the sky lit up, a vicious green color. Her breath froze in her throat, and her heart stopped. That's when Ginny looked up, her worst fear realized. The dark mark lit the sky, seeming to hover over a space perhaps only a hundred yards from where she was sitting now. Biting down on her lip to keep from making a sound, Ginny hugged herself tightly, and when she had finally recovered her breath, scrambled up and made a mad dash for the house.

Ginny's first thought was they had gotten to Harry. She imagined him following her outside, but losing her in the gardens, only to be slaughtered. She burst into the dining room, where people were milling about unconcernedly, her eyes desperately sought Harry, and when she saw him, her breath came easier. She scanned the room, looking for anyone who might be auspicious in his or her absence. Ginny saw her parents, and her brothers. The people who really mattered were safe, but someone was dead.

Draco stalked his way over to her, obvious annoyance on his face. "Where have you been, _darling_? Harry has been back for fifteen minutes already."

Ginny couldn't even reply. She just looked at him, then tugged him out of the room.

"What are you doing? We don't have time for this kind of shit!" Draco was trying to be quiet, but his hiss carried across the room, and Ginny saw several people sneak looks in their direction, then avert their eyes, acting as though they weren't curious in the least. Because the dark mark had appeared on the North side of the house, and the dining room was on the South, no one had yet noticed anything, and Ginny was wise enough even in her horror to realize that was a good thing. Ignoring Draco's objections, Ginny pulling him as hard as she could, but when Ginny never explained her reasons, Draco just stopped, and no amount of tugging on Ginny's end could budge him.

"What is going on!" he demanded.

"Please, " Ginny whispered. "Please."

"Not until you tell me what's going on. What is the matter with you?"

"I don't know, please just come." Draco stayed motionless for a moment, before sighing and letting Ginny pull him along, grumbling under his breath the entire time. His mutterings fell silent when they reached the entrance to the garden, and Draco stood completely still, his eyes wide.

"Merlin's balls," he whispered.

"I didn't know what else to do," Ginny whispered.

"I don't know either... I wonder... Father would probably know better than I what to do... Go find him and bring him out here. I'm going to see who it is."

"I-I don't think that would be a good idea" Ginny said in a hushed voice. "It's not safe. What if they're still here?"

"No one is foolish enough to stay after doing this. Go. Now." Draco's voice seemed to gain confidence as he spoke, and Ginny worried he was just deluding himself, but she didn't have time to reply before Draco walked off into the night, the eerie and unnatural light reflecting off his hair, making him a beacon for Ginny''s eyes to follow. It was only after Draco had walked far enough away that she could barely see him that she remembered to return and seek Lucius.

Again she ran through the silent halls of the house, and again anxiety wrapped it's tangled arms around Ginny, jarring her heart every time it beat. Her entrance into the dining hall was only slightly less dramatic, but Ginny didn't even stop to pay attention; her focus was entirely on finding Lucius as she waded through hundreds of people. Looking intently, Ginny was unable to spot him. After several minutes of searching, she came upon Narcissa and, interrupting the couple with whom she was talking, demanded to know if she knew where Lucius was.

" I don't know," huffed Narcissa. "I believe he went walking with some associates." Ginny froze, a feeling of dread washing over her. She turned abruptly from Narcissa and doubled her pace to make it to the door. As soon as Ginny was free of the people, she ran as fast as she could through those same halls, and this time, when she reached the door leading to the outside, she didn't stop, but continued on. Legs feeling as though they were going to collapse from under her at any time, scenes of terror in her mind, Ginny continued on until she saw the green light reflecting, and Ginny knew she had found Draco. He was standing, wand in hand, staring at the body on the ground, the green light reflecting off the corpse's hair the same way it reflected off of Draco's.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "So sorry."

Ginny knelt, her hand in Draco's, and the wizard standing over them recited the benediction. "...Potestate consenescentorum et in quos nomine gaudemus... Iam denuntio vos vir et uxor esse... in iuguo matrimonii sanctissimi... Iubeo vos exequi inter se..." The words faded in and out of Ginny's consciousness. She could hear someone crying, but other then the tears and the benediction, it was completely silent. Which was odd, because Ginny's heart was beating hard and quickly enough that she thought she should be able to hear it. Draco nudged her with his elbow, and she repeated the words as she was supposed to say. "Sic consentio."

So much had changed, in so short a time period. An hour, a day, a month, a year ago, she had been could never have imagined something like this happening. After they discovered the body, Draco and Ginny had no choice but to call the Ministry and Aurors in. They hadn't had much to say; the cause of Lucius Malfoy's death had been obvious, and the Ministry didn't have enough clout to catch the murders. The Ministry had stayed out of the war, and because they couldn't do anything about the body count, they didn't even try. There was no investigation for people who died as an obvious result of the war, and not even Lucius, who was an important official, got an investigation. Everything happened so quickly after the Ministry arrived. Narcissa wailed, the city was in a state of shock, Harry immediately left, and Ginny and Draco were commanded to marry. Many of the people at the party demanded retaliation, but they couldn't get the retaliation for which they strove- complete victory and dominance. The stalemate at which things now existed had never been so strained, but both sides knew that it would continue until Draco and Ginny's marriage. Anger clouded the minds of everyone, and both sides were out for blood. Ginny was too stunned to say no; she couldn't think. If only someone could give her time to think, she just wanted to think. Just wants to think.

"You'll have time to think after this is done," she was told. "You don't need to think- you already agreed to this, it's just happening a little sooner." Everyone was talking, talking too much. She couldn't think when they were talking so much. If only everyone were quiet so she could think. "Time is running out, we need to go now." It felt like people were screaming inside her head. "You look lovely. You'll make a beautiful bride." They told her thinking was overrated, that it wasn't important, the only thing that was important right now was moving, not stopping, not thinking.

The wizard standing in front of Ginny and Draco began to smooth something on their forehead, saying "Hodie ungo, et numquam in crastinum differre honos, fides, sodalitas, et pulchritudo in vestras vitas." He spoke the words, and they felt like a death sentence to Ginny. She still couldn't comprehend how this was happening. Everything was too chaotic. She felt as though she were drowning, or choking, or maybe her organs were just being twisted around inside her body. She wanted to tell him to wait, but the words never came out of her mouth. Why was everyone so eager for this marriage? Why couldn't it wait? Ginny just wanted to go home and never thing about this again, but she couldn't. She couldn't do anything. Draco pulled her closer, and whispered something into her ear. She couldn't hear, and Ginny was too confused to even ask him to repeat himself. It didn't matter, nothing really mattered. Nothing.

She woke up, and before Ginny even opened her eyes, she tensed. Please don't let it be true, she thought. Please don't let it be true. Opening her eyes carefully, Ginny breathed in a deep sigh of relief when she saw the Gryffendor colors surrounding her bed. Praise Merlin! It was just a dream. A huge smile spread a cross Ginny's face. It was just a dream.

"Good morning, Mrs. Malfoy." Ginny sat up abruptly.

Don't call me that. Whatever you do, don't call me that. I'll do anything, just don't call me that. "Good morning," said Ginny calmly.

"I hope you are well." Professor McGonagall walked slowly into the room, pulling back the curtains so Ginny could see out.

"I am, thank you for asking." Taking a deep breathed, Ginny closed her eyes. Was it true then? Did she truly marry Malfoy last night? It was looking as though she had. Bloody hell.

"I really married him, didn't I?" Ginny whispered. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she realized that though the room was decorated in Gryffendor colors, it wasn't her own room.

"Yes, Mrs. Malfoy, I'm afraid you did," McGonagall paused a moment, as if considering, then continued. "I have taken the liberty of moving all you possessions to this room. Hogwarts has not had many married students, but there have been a few. I believe you are the first student to be married to someone other than other student, but this is still the room they have always been assigned. I'm assuming you want to finish up your classes this year?"

"Yes," said Ginny quietly, her mind still spinning. She never thought it would actually come to this. To be completely honest with herself, Ginny had always believe that someone, anyone, would save her from this fate. Even as the day of her wedding approached, Ginny never believed she would actually go through with this marriage. It was just so ridiculous, and Ginny just expected someone, everyone, to jump out and tell her, "Just kidding!"

But this was no joke. This was truth, and the truth had never been so scary.

"I suppose I should congratulate you on your nuptials, Mrs. Malfoy."

"Please don't call me that," Ginny asked. "I can't think of myself as Mrs. Malfoy."

"I understand. You have been excused from your classes for today, but I'm afraid you must return tomorrow."

"Do-Dose everyone know?" Ginny asked quietly.

"No. From what I heard, it was a very small ceremony. However, while they don't know today, I'm not sure how long anyone can keep it a secret. It might be better to just be open about it."

"I-I don't think I can do that. I'd rather keep it as quite as possible, if that is alright."

McGonagall sniffed. "You don't need my permission, Mrs- uh, Ginny. It's your business."

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall. I appreciate your support."

"Good luck, Ginny," said McGonagall as she turned to leave. "I have a feeling you'll need it."

Ginny sighed, as as soon as McGonagall stepped outside, she collapsed against the bed. Oh Merlin. What had she gotten herself into? She was married. Married. "I'm too young to be married, " Ginny whispered, "and I can't be Mrs. Malfoy. Merlin, why did this happen to me?"

Why did they make her and Draco marry, Ginny wondered. What possible purpose could it serve? Why had Lucius' death triggered an early marriage. Ginny wanted answers, and she wanted them now. She stood, her legs still shaky. Dressing quickly, Ginny walked over to the pot of floo powder, grabbed a handful, threw it into the fireplace and shouted, "Number twelve, Grimmauld place!"

As Ginny stepped out of the fireplace at the other end, the house was swarming with activity. Men and women alike were scrambling about, holding papers, practicing spells, going over maps and schedules. It felt as though Ginny had stepped into a war zone, an analogy which was truer than Ginny would have liked.

Ginny saw Hermione rounding a corner, walking straight towards her, her head buried in a book. "Hermione!" she called. "Can you spare a moment?"

Hermione looked up, startled. "Ginny, I didn't expect to see you here," Hermione paused. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling alright, I suppose," she paused. "Hermione, what happened last night?"

"You married him, Ginny. You married him. I don't know how it happened. It happened after we left... What did you do Ginny?"

"I honestly don't know."

I believe my Latin works, I conjugated as best as I am able. I would translate it back to English, but I left my dictionary somewhere. Just know that it's marriage words.

Much Love, Miss Auburn


	9. No Protocol Exists

Chapter Eight: No Protocol Exists

Happy reading.

* * *

None of Ginny's questions were answered that morning. Hermione hurried off, and none of her family was present. Alone, Ginny sat down in a chair, wrapping her arms around her legs, holding herself tightly. Occasionally someone would walk by, and more often than not it was someone Ginny had never seen before. New members of the Order, the Order of which Ginny would never be a part. The flow of people walking by slowed to a trickle, and then no one passed through the room in which Ginny was sitting. After almost an hour had passed since Ginny had last seen another soul, she finally stood, knowing that no one was here to comfort her, even in her time of utmost need.

Ginny didn't want to floo back- it seemed too chaotic, and right now she wanted calm. Thus Ginny walked through the house in search for a broom. The house was completely deserted, silent and almost haunting. It did not take Ginny long to find a broom, and while she did wonder about the location of the rest of the Order, she really didn't care enough to be worried. She mounted her broom slowly, and launched herself out a second story window. The air rushing around her felt cool, and Ginny too deep breaths, happy to be able to simply breathe without feeling any pressure. Hogwarts was her eventual destination, but Ginny was in no particular hurry to return. She had nothing to accomplish- her dreams and goals of a life after Hogwarts were almost meaningless. A Malfoy didn't work for a living, a Malfoy didn't work for pleasure. A hobby would be acceptable, providing of course that it was a social hobby. It no longer mattered if she passed her classes, or if her NEWT scores were decent. She might not even have to take the NEWTs! Nothing really mattered anymore. Nothing.

* * *

"Good morning." Ginny sat up abruptly. It was Monday morning- she had been asleep since she had returned to Hogwarts yesterday, and now Draco was standing over her.

"Bloody hell! What are you doing here?" Ginny demanded, grabbing the covers and wrapping them even more tightly around herself.

"I've come to collect my wife. We're leaving tonight. England just isn't safe right now," Draco paused. "I've talked to McGonagall, and she agrees; we're leaving Hogwarts this afternoon. Anything you need to pack, do it now."

"What are you talking about? McGonagall said I could stay, and finish up the year. I have to finish school! I only have a few months left- I'm not about to drop out!"

"Ginny, I don't think you realize. We're married. The war is on. And you're leaving with me. Tonight."

"No, I'm not. I'm not just going to drop everything and run away and hide with you! People I care about are going to be hurt, and I'm going to be there for them. You're right, this is a war. But I'm going to be a part of it, and I'm going to stay here. I'm not a coward, and I'm not running!" Ginny's voice was clearly defiant, challenging Draco.

"Are you calling me a coward?" Draco asked, his own voice deadly calm.

"Yes. Running is the cowardly thing to do," Ginny replied, contumely echoing in her words.

"I'm not a coward. Everything in life is not black and white, and there is more at stake here than you and I, and what we want. If I had a choice about it, no, I would not fight in this war. But I don't have a choice. I am taking you and we are leaving. There are no clear lines drawn in the real world, not right and wrong."

"It's not my fault you're a cynical bastard." retorted Ginny.

"Oh Merlin! How can you be that naive? You're supposed to be a grown and married woman, but you have the emotional understanding of a four year old!" said Draco, his temper flairing.

"Emotional maturity is it? And this from the man who still smirks at the thought of snubbing Harry or my brother or Hermione? Or even anyone from Gryffindor, actually," Ginny's voice was getting louder and louder. "Anyone who doesn't meet your little pureblood standards? You think you're up on this pedestal, better than everyone else. What you still haven't learned is that you're not!"

"Well, it couldn't have been that important to me, then, if I married you." He managed to make it

sound like a vulgar insult, ending it with a trademark sneer.

"I'm sick of you and your little games. You're pathetic!"

"Games?"

"Yes, your little games. Even back in Hogwarts, it was all about you proving that you were better, holding court over your little cronies, mocking everybody. And you haven't changed at all!"

"And what would you know, Mrs. Malfoy?"

"Don't bloody call me that!" screamed Ginny.

"You and I are leaving. I don't care if you come willingly, or if I have to forcibly remove you, but we are leaving. I'll be back here at 4 in the afternoon. If you wanted to say goodbye to anyone, your friends or family, now would be a good time to do so." Draco walked out of the room, one of his infamous smirks covering his face, leaving Ginny to stare at his back.

"Arrogant bastard!" she screamed after him, though the door closed on her words. She stood and hastily dressed; Ginny believed him when Draco had said that he would take her against her will, but Ginny wasn't sure she was going to be around for him to take. She stood before the fireplace, grabbed a handful of floo powder, threw it into the fire and called out, "The Burrow!" as she stepped in.

She stepped out of the fireplace and walked right into her mother, who promptly put her arms around Ginny and began to cry.

"I'm so sorry Ginny, if I had known, I would never have left. I'm so sorry..." Ginny found herself soothing her mother, rubbing her hand over her mother's back.

"It's alright. I promise, it's alright."

"No, Ginny, it's not," broke in Harry, who had just walked into the room. "It's not alright at all. What the hell did you think you were doing?" Ginny stepped away from her mother, who sniffed, obviously not wanting to be a part of this discussion.

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Ginny asked. "I did what you asked. I thought you would be ecstatic." Her voice was dripping with condemnation.

"You might just have fucked up everything we've been working for years to accomplish!"

"Harry, watch your language! You will not talk to Ginny that way!" broke in Molly.

"We had been working so hard, planning everything out so carefully, and you mess it up. You put the prophecy in motion almost a full month before we were ready. It's a miracle no one was killed, but if someone had been, I would lay the blame solely on you. What were you thinking to go and marry the bastard?" Harry continued, his voice never softening.

"I didn't want to marry him, Harry! It's not like I had a choice!" exclaimed Ginny.

"You're just angry because you didn't get your way!"

"Not getting my way would be to have radishes in my salad at dinner. This has nothing to do with not getting my way!"

"How could you do that to me?" Harry demanded.

"How could _I_ do that to _you_? Do you have any idea how you've betrayed me? And now you have the audacity to blame me? I did nothing you didn't ask me to do!"

"You acted rashly and it could have killed me!"

"You left me! You left me there! You made sure my family got out that night, but you left me there. How can you leave me, then be mad at me when I'm not able to read your mind and know that you didn't actually want me to marry him, to do the thing that you _begged _me to do!"

"It's common sense! There was no reason to marry him that night!" Harry yelled at her. "No reason at all!"

"I didn't have a choice. I was put in front of the alter. I just did as I was fucking told to do!"

"Ginny!" exclaimed her mother. "I know you know better. Don't use language such as that in this house!"

"Sorry," Ginny took a deep breath to calm down. "I did as I was bid. I had just found a dead body, and I was more than a little distraught. I'm sorry that I made this difficult for you, Harry, but this has been even harder for me. I don't want to argue any more today. I actually just came to let you know, Mum, that I'm going to be leaving for a while. I don't know how long, and I don't know where I'll be going. I just wanted to let you know. I love you Mum. Give Dad my love as well, and the brothers." Ginny turned and faced Harry. "I just can't do anything right anymore." Grabbing another handful of floo powder and flinging it into the fireplace, Ginny looked back once more at her mother, who was walking toward her, before stepping into the fireplace and calling out "Hogwarts!"

* * *

Draco didn't expect Ginny to actually be in her room when he arrived. Knowing that she didn't want to go with him, he expected her to run off somewhere. Thus he had placed a tracking spell on her this morning, before he woke her up. He was pleasently surprised therefore, to see her sitting tamely on her bed when he arrived. Her head was down, hands folded in her lap.

"What's wrong?" he asked, pausing about a meter away from her. Ginny looked up at him, her cheeks streaked with tears.

"I just don't know how much more of it I can take. I just want it to be over."

"I know, I want it to be over, too," replied Draco, picking up the luggage sitting on her bed. "Do you know how to Apperate?"

"I haven't gotten my license, but I know the basics of it."

"Good, because we're Apperating back to the Manor."

"But I'll get-"

"Don't worry about the Ministry. They have much more important things to handle right now."

* * *

Feedback is _always _appreciated. Feel free to join in!

K BA

Miss Auburn


	10. So Not Cute

Right now, there are 5 days, 1 hour and 5 minutes until the new Harry Potter. Woo hoo!

I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying. I'm trying to finish this as quickly as I can. I'm not sure that I'll have it finished before the release of the new HP, like I had intended, but oh well. Have patience, read, and enjoy.

Chapter Nine: So Not Cute

* * *

"Where are we going exactly?" Ginny asked quietly. 

"Scotland. Father had a castle built there just in case something bad happened and we needed to get away."

"How is that any safer than staying in England?" Ginny asked.

"Because this castle doesn't really exist, at least not in a manner anyone can reach it, except in a certain way."

"What are you talking about? I don't understand."

Draco sighed. "The castle is not connected to the floo network, it's invisible, there are anti-Apperation charms everywhere, and there is some sort of giant maze around it, keeping everyone out."

"Then how are we getting in?"

"We're flooing."

"You said the castle wasn't connected to the floo network."

"It's not."

"Then how are we getting in?"

"The fireplaces in the castle are all connected to only one other fireplace; one in the basement of the Manor."

"Oh," replied Ginny softly.

After a moment of two of walking through the hallways of the Manor, Draco looked back at Ginny and asked, "What is the matter, Ginny?"

"I just don't know what to do anymore. I thought I was doing this for all the right reasons, but Draco, I just don't know. I feel as though I'm being pulled in so many directions, and I just want it all to stop."

"Well, if a vacation is what you're looking for, you should thank me. The castle is wonderful. The only people there will be my mother, you and I. My mother will most likely remove herself, and you'll be able to just relax. It really is a beautiful area. I think you'll enjoy it."

"I'm not thanking you, Draco. I don't want to be here. I want to be useful, helping the Order."

Silence followed this proclamation, and Draco led Ginny through the mansion. The further they walked, the darker it became, and as Ginny walked down the staircase leading into the lower levels, she shuddered. The once spacious halls became narrower, and the ubiquitous light that shone through the rest of the house was missing here, with only the occasional torch to light the way. At the end of the hallway was a door, and inside what looked to be a study. The walls were all lined with bookshelves full of volumes, many of which, Ginny was forced to notice, looked to be about the Dark Arts. Apprehension mounting, Ginny quickened her step, bringing herself closer to Draco, who currently seemed the lesser of two great evils. When Draco stopped abruptly, Ginny ran into his back. Instead of a scornful remark, Draco just looked at her, than asked, "Do you want to grab something to read while we're here?"

Ginny froze, sure that Draco had seen her trying to see the bookshelves, sure that this was a subtle warning. When she didn't reply, Draco asked, "Surely you know how to read?"

"Yes!" replied Ginny, glaring at Draco.

"Come on," Draco said, turning, and continued, "the novels are right though here." He began to weave his way between the shelves, and Ginny hurried to follow. So he wasn't reprimanding her for her previous curiosity, but had genuinely been offering her some sort of entertainment. "Here," Draco said, stopping, and pointing at several shelves. "Take whatever you want. I'm going to go grab some books too, I'll be back in about 15 minutes." He turned and walked off into the semi-darkness. Ginny wandered, just browsing. The books here were merely novels, as Draco had said. There was nothing menacing, just bland books, as one would find at any bookstore. Ginny breathed a sign of relief- perhaps the books she had passed earlier were just as innocent. After all, what fool would place illegal and felonious books in plain sight of anyone walking through this library? Ginny, thus calmed, began to systematically pull book s off shelves, flip through them quickly, then replace them, or more often, add them to the growing pile of books she was planning to take with her.

"Are you truly taking all of them?" Draco asked. Ginny startled, dropped the book she was holding and swung around. Her heart beating madly, she scolded Draco, "Don't startle me like that!"

"Are you?"

"Yes, I am planning on taking all of them." Ginny sniffed. Draco shrugged, than whispered something, and the books all flew into the bag Draco was holding, shrinking as they flew. Ginny watched curiously; she was unfamiliar with the spell, and hadn't even realized Draco was holding the bag.

"Come on then, we don't have much time."

Draco led Ginny back into the hallway, and down until they reached a huge and archaic fireplace. "We're going to Humbolt Estate," Draco informed Ginny, then grabbed a handful of floo powder, threw it into the fireplace, and then jumped in yelling, "Humbolt Estate!"

Ginny began to protest at his sudden disapparence, but he was gone before she formed the words. Ginny then took a deep breath, took a handful of floo powder, and followed Draco, yelling, "Humbolt Estate!"

The floo trip was one unlike any Ginny had ever experienced- the disorientation she normally felt was magnified tenfold, and she seemed to be flying faster than ever before. The trip was seeming to take an interminable amount of time, and Ginny began to count slowly. A typical floo journey -from start to finish- lasted between 5-12 seconds. Ginny had counted to 32 before she was spit out on an unfamiliar hearth. Soot covered her from head to toe, and Ginny began coughing uncontrollably. A hand descended on Ginny's back and began pounding rhythmically. "Thanks," she muttered, looking up at Draco.

"If you want something to eat, you'll have to make it yourself," Draco stated. "Do you want a tour?"

"I suppose," Ginny replied.

"This is the my mother's room -she's almost certainly asleep by now- and this is the water closet, the parlor, the library/study, the kitchen and finally, our room," he announced, opening the door.

"_Our_ room?" Ginny demanded. "What do you mean, our room?"

"The room which you and I will be sharing, in which we will be sleeping," Draco explained patiently, though the smirk on his face belied the easy tone of his words. "The house was built with no extra room for a _wife_. I'm sorry, but we're sharing the room." Draco paused. "Why don't you unpack, I'll be back in a bit." And with that Draco walked out. Ginny ambled over to where Draco had set down her luggage, and proceeded to unpack, putting her clothes in drawers, and adding a homier touch to the room. Just as Ginny was finishing, Draco returned, munching on a piece of toast.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

"No, replied Ginny, "I'm just tired."

"Not surprising- it's almost 11... 1 in the morning local time."

"What is local time?" asked Ginny curiously.

"I just told you," replied Draco, his voice simply dripping with venom. "It's almost one o'clock."

"I know that- I want to know where we are?"

"I'm sure you do," Draco paused. "I'm getting ready for bed." Turning, Draco walked over to the wall and opened a panel, which obviously led to a second water closet attached to their room. Ginny picked up her pajamas and walked down to the other water closet at the end of the hallway. She changed slowly, taking deep breaths- there was nothing she dreaded more than the idea of going to bed with Draco Malfoy, her husband. She returned slowly to her room, putting off the moment when she would confront him over a bed. Opening the door carefully, a wave of relief flooded Ginny to realize that Draco was still in the water closet. She went over to her luggage and removed the final item from her bag. Wrapping her childhood blanket around herself, Ginny stepped into bed and closed her eyes, determined to sleep. She didn't even hear Draco's footsteps as he ambled toward the bed.

What is this?" he asked, pointing to Ginny's blanket.

"It's my blanket," Ginny answered primly, her eyes still closed.

"What's it doing in my bed?" he questioned, picking it up carefully between his thumb and forefinger, as though it was too dirty to touch.

"I'm sleeping with it!" responded Ginny, snatching it from his hands.

"Well, you're not sleeping in here with that damn thing!"

"Fine! Then where can I sleep?" Ginny demanded.

"That's not what I meant. You're sleeping here. It is not."

"The blankie comes with me. You can't have it both ways. Either I'm here with my blankie, or my blankie and I are both elsewhere."

"You're a married woman!" Draco exclaimed, his patience running out. "You don't need a blanket!"

"I may not need it, but not only do I very much want it, but I'm having it. And if you don't like it, then that's your problem," Ginny said as she began to take the blankets and quilts off of Draco's bed.

"What are you doing?" Draco sighed.

"Since you won't tell me where I can sleep, I'm taking these out to the couch. I'm sleeping there."

"No, Ginny, you're not," said Draco, grabbing her from behind and tossing her on the bed. "Dormio!"

* * *

Ginny awoke slowly. The time, judging by the light permeating through the curtains, was about midmorning. Though she didn't particularly want to get up, Ginny thought it would be a good idea to provide herself with a jentacular repast to fill her empty stomach. She stood slowly and dressed, then walked to the kitchen. It was there that she encountered Draco, munching on a piece of toast. Not knowing what to say, Ginny said nothing, but began to prepare some eggs for herself. As they were cooking, Ginny walked around a bit, looking into cabinets and peering around, looking at the food supplies. 

"Will you stop pacing!" Draco finally shouted, then asked, "Did you sleep well?" Ginny just shrugged, and went back to her eggs. She spooned them out of the pan and onto a plate. Draco's eyes just followed her food, then he turned and walked from the room in disgust. Ginny finished her food and washed her plate. With nothing else to do, Ginny went back to her room and picked up a book. Not liking the lighting in her room, Ginny moved into the parlor.

Mid-afternoon, Draco walked in, squinting at the abundant light and nibbling on a piece of toast. Ginny looked up, then demanded, "Don't you know how to make anything other than toast?"

"No," replied Draco succinctly. Ginny just rolled her eyes, and looked back to her book. Draco stood in the doorway, then began to walk about the room, picking things up and setting them down. Taking a deep breath, Ginny set her book and looked up.

"Is there anything you need?" asked Ginny.

"No," he replied again.

"Do you want me to make you something other than toast?" asked Ginny after a rather uncomfortable pause.

"That would be wonderful."

* * *

Thank you so much. Don't forget to review. Have a very nice day! 

Much Love, MA


	11. The Stepping Stone

My apologies; I understand it's been just a few days short of a year since I updated. I just got a little discouraged after reading Half-Blood Prince, and then it was my senior year and it was intense. But I shouldn't be giving excuses. Just forgive me. This is kind-of adapted to HBP, but only kind-of. So read at your own risk. Thank you for your time.

Chapter 10: The Stepping-Stone

Ginny was pleasantly surprised. In the past week, since she and Draco had entered into a tentative truce, Ginny and Draco had managed to avoid a fight. Granted, it had been difficult, and she felt as though she had been walking on eggshells, but it was a truce nonetheless. Narcissa had been virtually absent, and Ginny had asked Draco -figuring it was one of a few "safe" conversation topics- about her whereabouts.

"Her quarters have their own bathroom and kitchen, along with a few other amenities," Draco had explained.

"Oh," Ginny had replied, ending their conversation for the moment.

Glancing around, Ginny stepped closer to her window. The house simply had no doors leading to the outside, and after spending almost a week within the confines of Humbolt Estate, Ginny was longing to step outside. While the sun wasn't out, the rain had ceased for a moment. Narcissa was in her quarters, Draco was no where to be seen, and Ginny was severely tempted to sneak a trip into the fresh air. Moving until she was right up against the window, Ginny began fumbling with the latch, sighing with relief when it opened. She pushed it open the entire way, and, pulling the curtains closed behind her, climbed through the window and out onto the lawn. It was only a little over a meter drop to the ground, and as her feet squelched into the wet ground, Ginny felt her heart flood with joy simply at being outdoors.

Standing in the hallway, Draco observed Ginny with a smirk, suppressing a chuckle as she almost slipped while climbing out the window. It was been his own private bet, wondering how long it would be before she tried to break out. The grounds were completely secure, so Ginny could wander as much as she wished. The yard was hexed, so that she could never be more than 30 meters from the house. Wander as she wanted, she would always be wandering within 30 meters of the house. Draco could afford to let her have this rebellious moment; he had his own errands to run. With a smirk, Draco shut, but did not lock (he was feeling generous) the window from which Ginny had escaped. Glancing around to ensure Narcissa was still in her quarters, Draco walked over to the fireplace, grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fireplace, crying out, "Malfor Manor."

Emerging into the basement of Malfoy Manor, Draco glanced around. The library was mostly as he had left it, save with a pile of newspapers and letters near the fireplaces, as he had commanded the house-elves to leave the papers in his absence. Draco scooped up the newspapers and mail, and began to examine the library. He had contacted his colleagues before leaving, explaining it was his honeymoon, so the mail load was light, and Draco had a sneaking suspicion that soon his colleagues would be too involved to owl him mail. But Draco had been gone about a week, and he was sure that his absence had been noted beyond his usual social circles, especially if the fighting had begun. Now that Draco and Ginny were married, Draco was positive that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would have began attacking, or at least probing for future attacks. Concerned that his absence might be telling, Draco wanted to keep the Manor as safe as possible while he was gone. With all of his father's Dark Arts paraphernalia, Draco was almost positive that the Manor would be subject to raiding by both sides as desperations increased.

Even after only a week, Draco knew it would be risky to return to the Manor, but he wanted to pick up the mail, and, being honest with himself, he wanted a news fix. While he had little personally invested in the war, the outcome would be important, as would the damage inflicted in the process. Draco was wealthy enough that he could survive no matter who won, and it was more a matter of waiting for the war to end so he could continue on with life. Looking around, the basement appeared untouched, and Draco began walking quietly toward the main part of the house.

The walk wasn't quite as refreshing as Ginny had hoped it would be. For one, no matter how careful she was to walk in a straight line, she always ended up walking in circles around the estate. Always in sight of the house, Ginny wasn't able to really enjoy nature, knowing that she was still confined. At least it gave her an opportunity to observe the house. It was two stories, leaving Ginny to assume that Narcissa's quarters took up the second floor. It was also larger than Ginny had expected, and she was pretty certain she counted more windows as she walked around the house than were in the house, leaving Ginny to infer that some of the windows were either an illusion, or there was more to the house than Draco had told her. Ginny was inclined to believe the latter. On one round about the house, as she was (re)-counting windows, Ginny noticed that none of the windows were open. Someone had closed the window she used to climb out, or it was an illusion. Or perhaps, as a safety mechanism, the windows closed by magic. Ginny shook her head just thinking of the possibilities, and walked up to the closest window and tried to peer in. She wasn't tall enough to see much, but could see enough to know it was the bathroom. She tried to open that window, just in case it was unlocked, but without luck. Methodically, Ginny began walking around the house, peering in windows and trying to open them. She had gotten about the third of the way around the house before she came upon a window to a room she had never seen before. Even though she could only see perhaps the top half of the room, Ginny knew that it was not one Draco had shown her during their "tour," and as she had entered all the rooms to which she had seen doors, Ginny determined there must be significantly more to the house than she knew of. She had never seen the room with the next three windows either, then saw into the kitchen. The next set of windows Ginny explored looked to be part of a library, but a much more substantial library than Ginny had found in the main part of the house. Jumping to get a better glimpse into the room, Ginny was shocked to catch sight of several locks of silver-gold hair. Draco -she discovered after several more jumping episodes- was sitting calmly in what looked to be a chair, reading the newspaper. Ginny knocked on the window, and when Draco failed to look up, began pounding on the window.

He finally looked up. Ginny pointed at the window, asking him to let her in. He shrugged and looked back to the paper. Ginny began pounding more loudly on the window, and he held up a finger, indicating he wanted Ginny to wait. She sighed, and toned her pound down to a knock, letting him know that he could have his moment to finish whatever article he was reading, but that she was still there and wanted to be let in. Now. Less than a minute later, Draco stood up, came to the window, and opened it. Sticking his head out, he demanded, "What do you want?"

Ginny was surprised. She thought what she wanted was fairly obvious.

"I made sure the window other window was unlocked. What more do you want?"

"You shut my window?" Ginny asked, outraged.

"Damn right I did. It was chilling the entire house."

"You bugger! How did you expect me to find it?"

"You managed to get out, I assumed you should have no problem getting back in," Draco replied calmly.

Ginny frowned at him. "Help me in."

Draco frowned back. "Help yourself in. You got out, you should be able to get back in."

This window, in addition to being rather high up, was also significantly narrower, not allowing Ginny the maneuvering room she would have had with the other window. "Just help me back in. Please."

Draco sighed, but gave in, and leaned out the window, helping Ginny back in. It was no graceful re-entry, and Ginny tumbled in an onto the floor. She stood up quickly and, brushing herself off, stared accusingly at Draco. "Where did you get the newspaper?" she asked.

Draco shrugged. Ginny reached for the paper, rapidly scanning it. "Merlin's balls!" she breathed. "They attacked Hogwarts and... and the Order." Death Eaters had attacked number 12 Grimmauld place -Ginny looked at the date on the paper- three days ago, only a day after a raid on Hogwarts. "Oh Merlin," Ginny whispered sitting down heavily. "This is my fault." She glanced up, meeting Draco's eyes. "This is my fault."

Of all the ways Draco imagined Ginny reacting to the news, guilt was not it. He was shocked when she looked at him as though she had lost her heart, and didn't understand her guilt.

"Ginny, what do you mean, you didn't do any of this. It's not your fault." He could see the tears in her eyes, though she stubbornly refused to let them run down her cheeks.

"They were supposed to have another month. If we had gotten married when planned, the Order would have had an extra month to prepare. They could have stopped this, could have prevented it."

"No, Ginny," Draco said, moving, against his better judgment , to put his arms around her. "This would have happened if we had waited. That extra month would have given You-Know-Who more time to plan too. And besides, I... I heard bits and pieces of what my father was planning. Those two places were targets anyway. It's not your fault."

"Where else are they planning to attack? We have to warn them! We have to..." Ginny trailed off as Draco shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Gin, but I don't know anywhere else. Those two were the big targets." And Draco honestly didn't know. He hadn't been positive either Hogwarts or the Black family house had been planned as targets, only had suspicions. Draco had carefully stayed out of Death Eater business since the end of sixth year, allowing his father's cohorts to whisper "coward" behind his back at his lack of involvement. But in the two years since his murder attempt on Dumbledore, Draco had reconciled himself to the idea the he didn't have the stomach for murder. But he no longer had the opportunity to listen to Death Eater plans, for which he was generally grateful, though now he wished he did know something, just so he could comfort the girl he held. Not the he was growing soft. "Don't worry," Draco whispered in Ginny's hair. "You're safe."

An hour or so later Ginny sat wrapped in a blanked in the formally-secret library, munching on a piece the toast Draco brought her. But as a testament to what he had learned this past week, the toast was accompanied by a bowl of soup.

"Draco," Ginny asked. "Why did they kill your dad?" This was one of the conversation topics from which she had shied away, worrying it might disturb the fragile peace she and Draco had achieved over the past week. Somehow, though, Ginny though the peace had been disturbed enough, and wanted answers more than peace. Logically, Lucius' murder didn't make any sense. "If your father was a Death Eater, what did they have to gain by killing him?"

Draco sighed. He had puzzled over this question himself, and while he wasn't sure, he did have his own theory. "I think they killed him to speed up the wedding. It could have been anyone, they just wanted to hit, and to hit us heard enough that we, in the heat of the moment, didn't think too far beyond the consequences."

Ginny looked at him, frowning. "How does hurting us move the wedding up? I would think we would have postponed it, giving the family time to mourn, rather than..." she trailed off, seeing Draco shake his head at her.

"It's not about mourning, it's about revenge. In the heat of the moment, when a family member has died, one generally wants revenge. No one could have their revenge until we're married." Draco snorted. "And my father had likely outlived his usefulness."

Ginny sat in silence, shaking her head slowly at the death and carnage and pain this whole war had caused. She sat in the chair and looked at the sky, looked out the window she had climbed in just an hour ago, but the girl who climbed in the window was different from the girl sitting in the chair. "What have we done," she whispered eventually.

Draco had gone back to reading the newspaper while Ginny thought, and looked up when she spoke. "Charlie," Draco asked quietly. "He was your brother, wasn't he."

"Yes," she whispered.

"I'm sorry."

After speaking of the death of Charlie Weasley, Ginny and Draco had not spoken again. He had died in the raid on the Black family house, one of fourteen casualties. Draco sat and systematically went through the week's worth of Daily Prophets, reading the gory details. Ginny had only read the cover story of one paper, and hadn't read of the Order's retaliation, leaving almost double the casualties. And the Order had attacked in a public place, leaving two muggles dead. Draco wasn't too concerned with the fate of muggles, but he did not understand the Order's seeming hypocrisy, making muggle safety such an issue in this war, then acting with blatant disregard to their former platform. Whatever, Draco thought. This is war. Both sides commit atrocities.

Ginny had been sleeping in her chair for the past hour or so, and Draco figured she should be put to bed. After consideration, he carefully picked her up and moved her into the bedroom, lying her down on the bed. Frowning, Draco debated changing her into her pajamas -without peeking!- but decided she would get uncomfortable in the morning if he did so. So he just carefully tucked her under the covers, and even picked her blankie up from where is was on the makeshift bed on the floor where Ginny had been sleeping this past week and placed it over her. After changing into his nightclothes, Draco climbed in next to her and, after a moment's pause, moved closer to her, resting one hand on her arm. She needed human comfort that night, Draco knew, after reading of the death of her brother and the assault on her friends and family. Since there was no one else here to give her that comfort, the task fell to him.

Thank you so much. Don't forget to review. Have a very nice day!

Much Love, MA


	12. A Lively Week

Chapter Eleven: A Lively Week

* * *

Ginny woke up slowly, feeling almost like she had the morning after she drank too much. But she knew without doubt that this feeling was not a result of alcohol. This was pain. She let her mind drift over the events of the past day, and shook, horrified. Charlie was... Charlie was dead. All the emotions that she had felt yesterday had overwhelmed Ginny, and she hadn't cried. But this morning, having just woke up, she cried softly. Her shoulders shook silently, but Ginny froze when she heard the blankets next to her mumble. Not the blankets; Draco. She was in his bed. Ginny jerked her covers back, checking to make sure her clothes were intact. He must have brought her in after she fell asleep in the chair, Ginny realized. Nice of him, sort of. It was still early; the sun had not yet crested the trees around the house. She lay back in bed, not sleeping, just thinking. She glanced, not wanting to wake Draco, but feeling the demand of the water closet. Ginny slid to the edge of the bed, trying to move as slowly as possible out and down the hall. After relieving herself, Ginny brushed her teeth, having missed brushing her teeth last night. She wasn't sure she wanted to go back to bed, but it was early enough that Ginny suspected she might be able to fall asleep again. So she crept back to the bed, and slowly, slowly slid under the covers and closed her eyes.

When she next opened her eyes, Draco was awake too, and looking at her. Ginny started back, unsure of this kind of early-morning etiquette. "Good morning," she burst out, not knowing what else to say. Draco smirked and continued to look at her. Slightly uncomfortable under his close scrutiny, Ginny glanced away, then back, meeting his eyes. And then, to Ginny's complete surprise and utter shock, Draco leaned closer and brushed her lips with his. Ginny froze, sure she was imagining this. So, knowing it wasn't real, Ginny closed her eyes, and as his lips approached hers again, she brought her lips up to meet his kissing him gently. Glad she had brushed her teeth -or had she imagined that too?- Ginny began to kiss Draco more throughly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and Draco began to caress her back. His kisses trailed down her throat, his hands roamed and Ginny sat up abruptly, scrambling to the edge of the bed, slightly stunned by the realization that this was not a dream and Draco was really kissing, touching her. Draco just smirked at her lazily.

Oh Merlin. This was the last thing she needed, Ginny thought to herself. Why did he kiss her? Ginny backed carefully away from the bed, closer to the door. Draco continued smirking. Glancing his way to see his eyes still on her, Ginny gave an apologetic smile before yanking the door open and ducking out.

Ginny spent the rest of the day avoiding Draco. It was a simple kiss. Ginny had been kissed more by more than one person -Harry included- throughout her years in Hogwarts. What disturbed Ginny wasn't the kiss. It was the person who kissed her. It was also her own reaction to him. She had enjoyed the kiss. And her enjoyment had not been incumbent upon forgetting who it was who was kissing her. Ginny had enjoyed the kiss fully aware it was Draco Malfoy kissing her.

The house wasn't big enough for Ginny to avoid Draco as thoroughly as she would have wished. She saw him in the library, reading a book. He came into the kitchen as she was making lunch. He passed her in the narrow hallway, putting his hand on her arm to avoid bumping her further. His omnipresent, trademark smirk made Ginny positively murderous. In the early evening, Ginny decided to eat, knowing Draco preferred to eat later in the evening, and hoping to avoid him. Her pasta was almost finished cooking, and Ginny was roasting the garlic and tomatoes to mix with her pasta, popping the occasional tomato slice into her mouth, when Draco entered the kitchen. Absorbed in her cooking, Ginny didn't observe his presence until he lay a hand on her back. Ginny jumped and spun, wielding the spoon with which she had been stirring like a weapon.

"You startled me!" she exclaimed, irritated.

"Sorry. You just have a piece of something..." he paused, leaning down and kissing the left corner of her mouth softly, "right..." he kissed the right corner of her mouth, "here." Draco proceeded to softly nibble on her lower lip.

"Draco," Ginny whispered, closing her eyes, confusion rippling through her mind. Draco pulled away, smirking again when Ginny leaned forward, missing his lips on hers. When Draco wasn't there, Ginny jerked her eyes open, only to see Draco standing against the counter, a smirk covering his entire face. He was mocking her, Ginny realized, playing with her. He was kissing her knowing she would become uncomfortable. Well, Ginny thought, two can play that game. His kisses weren't real, just a ploy to unsettle her. Ginny resolved to quit acting so unsettled by his advances, to prove she wasn't as unsophisticated as she seemed.

To prove his kiss -or rejection- didn't mean anything, Ginny smirked back. If Draco wanted to play with her, she was more than willing to beat him at his own game. Ginny turned back to her pasta. She had played this flirting game before; she had just never expected to play it with Draco Malfoy. But then again, Ginny had never expected to be married to him either.

When she turned around again to drain her pasta, Draco was gone.

* * *

Draco Malfoy sat in his private study and bemoaned the fact that it was no longer private. Since Ginny had broken in here via the window, he hadn't felt quite as comfortable here. Granted, she wouldn't know how to get back in here without using the window, since she had been asleep as Draco carried her out, but he was still hesitant. This room, his sanctuary, felt compromised. He had spent most of the day in here, after it was obvious Ginny was avoiding him, and had plenty of time to think about it.

It was odd, having a wife. Not that they really acted like a married couple -the lack of marital intimacy being only the most obvious deficiency in their relationship, but not by any means the only- but it was still odd, having a woman always around. She was just always there, and there was no escaping her. Draco didn't feel as comfortable in his own house, knowing he was never alone. Reminders of her presence were everywhere; books she left lying around, her tooth brush in the bathroom, dishes in the sink, or even just a faint difference in the scent around the house. Annoying, it was.

While he had roomed with people at Hogwarts, Draco had always been very aware that it was not his space being invaded. Having never had to share space that was decidedly his, Draco found it unnerving. Especially in a living space this small. The entire cottage was the size of his quarters at Malfoy Manor. Having to share that with two people -even if he never saw one of them- was a new experience.

And he didn't quite know what to think about Ginny. She was different than he expected, different than he remembered. She wasn't as energetic as she had been at Hogwarts, and was quieter, but a bit more friendly. She was too young, though, he thought, to make a good wife. His mother was stately. Ginny was just too youthful to make a good, intimidating Malfoy. Maybe a child would settle her down, force her to grow up and grow a bit more distant. But Draco had a sneaking suspicion that Ginny would be too affectionate as a mother to be intimidating.

Frowning, Draco tried to imagine Ginny as his mother, saying the things she did, acting the way she did. It was almost... disappointing. Ginny would cease to be herself is she acted like Narcissa, and Draco felt almost wistful. He didn't quite like Ginny the way she was now, but liked her better this way than any other.

Enough of this thinking about his wife. Could get dangerous. Draco had a mission. It had been over a week since he had last sneaked back to the real world, and he wanted a news fix. Glancing around to ensure he was alone -you never knew when that wife of his would sneak up on him!- Draco grabbed a handful of floo powder and returned to Malfoy Manor.

The hallway was eerily quiet. Draco stuck his head out of the fireplace and glanced from side to side. It looked empty, and Draco leaned down to collect the newspapers. There were only three. It had been over a week, but there were only three newspapers. Sensing something was amiss, Draco continued to stand in the fireplace, but reached above the fireplace to the mantle to grab a handful of floo powder in case he needed to make a quick escape. Paranoid, perhaps, but Draco was determined to survive the day. Kicking the newspapers into the fireplace so he would still have them if he had to leave quickly, Draco was alert. He stayed in the fireplace for another minute or so, just to ensure no one else was around.

He stepped out of the fireplace slowly. Glancing around after every step he took, Draco slowly made his way towards the upper levels of the house. He stopped in the kitchen to demand of the house elves what was amiss in the house. But the kitchen was barren. Anticipation tightened his stomach. Draco stopped to consider. He wasn't sure that whatever information he might glean from exploring the rest of the house would outweigh the consequences if he was caught. In the eyes of the Death Eaters -well, in everyone's eyes, actually- he had run twice. Run away from consequences, run away from responsibility, run away from life. Death Eaters did not look fondly on cowards. Determined to prove he wasn't a coward -even to himself!- Draco crept forward. He ascended the stairs on the North Wing rather than using the formal stairs, as these were more secluded, less obvious. Draco was only halfway up the stairs when the faint sound of voices reached his ears. He froze, than after making sure the voices were not coming towards him, but were instead stationary, Draco slowly crept further up the stairs to hear what they were saying.

"...Malfoy's just disappeared again, the stupid coward."

"...Gotta find the kid. The Dark Lord wants his head."

"Nah. Kid's the least of our worries. Potter's a bigger worry. But the Dark Lord thinks that maybe the kid's part of the key to getting Potter."

"Malfoy?"

"That's the kid we're talking about, isn't it?"

"But everyone knows Potter and Malfoy hate each other. How would Malfoy...?"

"None o' yur business!" a third voice cut in. "Just find the kid!"

"We know he's been here, and recently too. About a week ago, we're thinking, maybe a little more. Seems he came here to pick up newspapers. Which means, if he has to come here to pick them up, that he's likely in an Idyll somewhere. He'll have to come through here eventually. It's just a matter of time."

"It had better be," the third voice growled.

"And we may be able to track their magic...It's public record what their wands are made of, and the Dark Lord has been experimenting with tracking wands, what with his and Potter's being so similar and all..."

Draco began to back down the stairway. He had to get back, make sure no one used their wands. He had to...

He tripped over a candle stand near the bottom of the stairs. The low murmer of voices which were still audible at the bottom of the stairwell suddenly turned to deafening silence.

Draco turned and ran.

He still had the the floo powder in his hand, so it was just a matter of getting to the fireplace before the Death Eaters. He ran with all his might. This was his house, and he knew how to travel the quickest routes. He prayed to Merlin that he might make it back to the estate. He had to warn his family... It didn't even occur to him to wonder than he had just included his wife as "family."

Draco could see the fireplace at the end of the hallway. He could hear the footsteps sound behind him. He didn't know which was closer. He stared straight ahead, watching the fireplace grow larger as he approached. Draco raised his arm, preparing to throw his floo powder into the fireplace.

"Humbolt Estate!" Draco cried as he threw, praying he hadn't said it too loudly. Draco jumped in the fireplace, and felt agonizing seconds as he waited to connect to the floo network. Draco turned, as his pursuers closed in. "One... two..." he counted silently. Finally, he felt the gut-wrench indicating floo transport, and eventually tumbled out onto the rug in his study, tripping over the newspapers he had left in the fireplace of Malfoy Manor.

Draco took a deep breath. He had made it back to the estate. Alive, for now. He took another deep breath, and another. They knew where he was. Not exactly where he was, nor how to get there, but they knew he was in an Idyll. They knew which fireplace connected to his Idyll. He spent the rest of the day laying every protective enchantment he knew of, and at least one Draco thought he might have just invented, on the estate, before breaking the news to his mother and Ginny that magic was no longer allowed. It was the muggle way from now on.

* * *

Thank you very much, feel free to review.

Much love,

MA


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